What is the Difference Between Neurodevelopmental and Neurocognitive Disorders

The key difference between neurodevelopmental and neurocognitive disorders is that neurodevelopmental disorders emerge during the developmental period of life, while neurocognitive disorders are acquired during the life span of an individual.

Neurological disabilities have a wide range of disorders, such as neurodevelopmental disorders, neurocognitive disorders, and neuromuscular disorders. Some conditions are congenital and emerge before birth, while some are acquired throughout their lifetime. Such disorders are usually caused due to brain tumors, degeneration, trauma, injuries, infections, or structural defects. All neurological disorders result from damage to the nervous system. Such damages cause abnormalities and difficulties in communication, vision, hearing, movement, behavior, and cognition.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What are Neurodevelopmental Disorders
3. What are Neurocognitive Disorders
4. Similarities – Neurodevelopmental and Neurocognitive Disorders
5. Neurodevelopmental vs Neurocognitive Disorders in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Neurodevelopmental vs Neurocognitive Disorders

What are Neurodevelopmental Disorders?

Neurodevelopmental disorders are primarily associated with disabilities in the nervous system or brain function. Such disorders lead to abnormal brain function, affecting emotion, self-control, memory, and learning ability. Such neurodevelopmental disorders include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), developmental language disorder (DLD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disabilities (DIs), motor disorders, neurogenetic disorders, specific learning disorders, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), traumatic brain injuries, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Neurodevelopmental disorders show a wide range of symptoms and severity, which results in various degrees of mental, physical, and emotional consequences for individuals. Causes for such disorders are usually influenced by genetics and the external environment. These range from genetic and metabolic diseases, infectious diseases, immune disorders, nutritional factors, physical trauma, and toxic and environmental factors. A very common example of genetically influenced neurodevelopmental disorder is Down syndrome. This disorder is due to chromosomal abnormalities in the genetic material. Few other examples are Fragile X syndrome, Rett syndrome, William syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, and Angelman syndrome.

Metabolic, immune, and infectious agents may cause these disorders. They mostly occur during pregnancy. Either mother or child can cause neurodevelopmental disorders. Nutritional disorders cause disorders such as spina bifida, which is a neural tube defect with malformation and dysfunction in the nervous system. This is mainly due to insufficient folic acid in the mother during pregnancy. Neurodevelopmental disorders are diagnosed by the symptoms visible in an individual. They are confirmed through genetic testing, karyotype analysis, and chromosomal microarray analysis.

What are Neurocognitive Disorders?

A neurocognitive disorder is a disorder that displays a decrease in mental functions due to a medical disease apart from a psychiatric illness. This disorder is often similar to dementia and is acquired during the lifetime. Neurocognitive disorders are usually caused due to brain injuries caused by trauma, breathing conditions, cardiovascular disorders, degenerative disorders, metabolic causes, infections, and drug and alcohol-related conditions. Metabolic causes such as kidney diseases, liver disease, thyroid diseases, vitamin deficiencies, and infections such as septicemia, encephalitis, meningitis, prion infections, and late-stage syphilis also cause neurocognitive disorders. Alcohol withdrawal states, intoxications, and drug withdrawal states lead to such disorders. Complications such as cancer and its treatment, such as chemotherapy, also lead to neurocognitive disorders.

A few examples of neurocognitive disorders include degenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, diffuse Lewy body disease, Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Pick disease, and normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Symptoms of neurocognitive disorders are confusion, agitation, dementia, and delirium. Such diseases are usually diagnosed through tests such as electroencephalogram (EEG), head CT scan, head MRI, lumbar puncture, and blood tests. Treatment depends on underlying conditions. Some are treated through rehabilitation and supportive care. Medicines are used to reduce aggression in some conditions. Some neurocognitive disorders are short-term and curable, while some are long-term and worsen over time.

What are the Similarities Between Neurodevelopmental and Neurocognitive Disorders?

• Neurodevelopmental and neurocognitive disorders are associated with abnormalities in the nervous system and brain.
• Both are caused due to infections and metabolic causes.
• Behavioral defects are shown in both disorders.

What is the Difference Between Neurodevelopmental and Neurocognitive Disorders?

Neurodevelopmental disorders emerge during the developmental period of life, while neurocognitive disorders are acquired during the life span of an individual. Thus, this is the key difference between neurodevelopmental and neurocognitive disorders. Moreover, neurodevelopmental disorders mainly take place as a result of genetic determinants, while neurocognitive disorders take place due to multiple conditions, which include metabolic errors, infectious agents, and lifestyle modifications. So, this is also a difference between neurodevelopmental and neurocognitive disorders. Besides, neurodevelopmental disorders can be diagnosed using genetic tests or at the prenatal stage, while neurocognitive disorders can be diagnosed after birth through an electroencephalogram.

The below infographic presents the differences between neurodevelopmental and neurocognitive disorders in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Neurodevelopmental vs Neurocognitive Disorders

Neurodevelopmental and neurocognitive disorders are types of neurological disorders. Neurodevelopmental disorders emerge during the developmental period of life, while neurocognitive disorders are acquired during the life span of an individual. Neurodevelopmental disorders are primarily associated with disabilities in the nervous system or brain function. Such disorders lead to abnormal brain function affecting emotion, self-control, memory, and learning ability. Neurocognitive disorder, on the other hand, displays a decrease in mental function due to a medical disease apart from a psychiatric illness. This disorder is often similar to dementia. This summarizes the difference between neurodevelopmental and neurocognitive disorders.

Reference:

1. “Neurocognitive Disorder.” Mount Sinai Health System.
2. “Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Nevada Hospitals: Dignity Health.” Nevada Hospitals | Dignity Health.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21)” By NIH Image Gallery (CC BY-NC 2.0) via Flickr
2. “MRI Alzheimer Disease and Dementia with Lewy Bodies” By McKeith IG, Boeve BF, Dickson DW, et al. Edited by Lukelahood. – Diagnosis and management of dementia with Lewy bodies: Fourth consensus report of the DLB Consortium. Neurology. 2017;89(1):88-100. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000004058 (CC BY 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia