Cognitive control of movement in down syndrome

Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 1996

In children and young adults with Down syndrome, there exists a profile of neuropsychological strengths and weaknesses. Verbal short-term memory skills are diminished relative t o subjects with mental retardation resulting from other etiologies. On the other hand, visual-motor skills are comparatively well preserved. This profile distinguishes the population having Down syndrome from other impaired populations, although it may be confounded by dementia in later adult years.

Children

Background. Children with Down syndrome (DS) exhibit lower motor and cognitive performance than typically developing children (TD). Although there is a relationship between these two developmental domains, only a few studies have addressed this association in children with DS compared to groups of the same chronological age (CA) or mental age (MA) within one study. This study aimed to fill this research gap. Method and Procedures. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 and the Trail-Making Test was used to assess motor and cognitive performances in 12 children (M = 10.5 ± 10.08) with DS, 12 CA-matched, and 12 MA-matched controls. Results. There are significant group differences in the motor dimension (total test score; p < 0.001, η2p = 0.734), for processing speed (p < 0.001, η2p = 0.396), and cognitive flexibility (p < 0.001, η2p = 0.498). Between TD-CA and both other groups, the differences in the magnitude of correlations for the motor dimension balance are also ...

Journal of Health, Medicine and Nursing, 2020

This study is designed to determine the cognitive impairments in individuals with Down syndrome. This study was conducted in September to November 2014. Sample of 30 patients was taken by using purposive sampling technique within three months. Observational and Cross-sectional study design was used. This was a hospital-based study in which patients with Down’s syndrome between the age range of 5-18 and both genders were included. A structured questionnaire was developed that was based on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development to assess the cognitive abilities by assessing tasks related to developmental ages. Out of those 30 patients 15(50٪) were male and 15(50٪) were females. Most of the patients were found in age range of 5-10 years according to frequency 16 (53.3٪) followed by 10 (33.3٪) patients in 10-15 years and 4 (13.3٪) in 15-20 years. The preoperational stage of cognitive development showed that the girls were more impaired. Pretend-play (boys (50%), girls(46.7%)),Centrati...

Behavior Genetics, 2006

Neuropsychological research has permitted defining specific cognitive profiles among individuals with mental retardation (MR) of different etiology. Namely, the cognitive profile of people with Down syndrome (DS) is often reported to be characterized by a deficit in language abilities that usually exceed impairments in visual-spatial capacities. However, recent studies have demonstrated a more complex neuropsychological profile in this population, with atypical development in the cognitive and in the linguistic domain. This paper is dedicated to reviewing literature regarding motor, linguistic and cognitive abilities in DS. Our aim is to present evidences supporting the hypothesis that individuals with these syndrome exhibit a peculiar motor development and neuropsychological profile with some abilities more preserved and others more impaired. This finding may have theoretical and practical implications. In fact, a better definition of the cognitive pattern in DS may contribute to understand the nature of MR in general and, also, it may suggests individualized rehabilitation treatment protocols.

PloS one, 2016

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability (ID). Abilities relating to executive function, memory and language are particularly affected in DS, although there is a large variability across individuals. People with DS also show an increased risk of developing dementia. While assessment batteries have been developed for adults with DS to assess cognitive abilities, these batteries may not be suitable for those with more severe IDs, dementia, or visual / hearing difficulties. Here we report the development of an informant rated questionnaire, the Cognitive Scale for Down Syndrome (CS-DS), which focuses on everyday abilities relating to executive function, memory and language, and is suitable for assessing these abilities in all adults with DS regardless of cognitive ability. Complete questionnaires were collected about 128 individuals with DS. After final question selection we found high internal consistency scores across the total questionnaire and ...

Down Syndrome Research and Practice, 1994

Journal of Down Syndrome & Chromosome Abnormalities, 2016

Jou rn a l o f Do wn S y n d r o m e & Ch ro m o s o m e Abn o rm a li ti es

Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 2010

Neurocognitive assessment in individuals with intellectual disabilities requires a well-validated test battery. To meet this need, the Arizona Cognitive Test Battery (ACTB) has been developed specifically to assess the cognitive phenotype in Down syndrome (DS). The ACTB includes neuropsychological assessments chosen to 1) assess a range of skills, 2) be non-verbal so as to not confound the neuropsychological assessment with language demands, 3) have distributional properties appropriate for research studies to identify genetic modifiers of variation, 4) show sensitivity to within and between sample differences, 5) have specific correlates with brain function, and 6) be applicable to a wide age range and across contexts. The ACTB includes tests of general cognitive ability and prefrontal, hippocampal and cerebellar function. These tasks were drawn from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Testing Automated Battery (CANTAB) and other established paradigms. Alongside the cognitive testing battery we administered benchmark and parent-report assessments of cognition and behavior. Individuals with DS (n=74, ages 7-38 years) and mental age (MA) matched controls (n=50, ages 3-8 years) were tested across 3 sites. A subsample of these groups were used for between-group comparisons, including 55 individuals with DS and 36 mental age matched controls. The ACTB allows for low floor performance levels and participant loss. Floor effects were greater in younger children. Individuals with DS were impaired on a number ACTB tests in comparison to a MA-matched sample, with some areas of spared ability, particularly on tests requiring extensive motor coordination. Battery measures correlated with parent report of behavior and development. The ACTB provided consistent results across contexts, including home vs. lab visits, cross-site, and among individuals with a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds and differences in ethnicity. The ACTB will be useful in a range of outcome studies, including clinical trials and the identification of important genetic components of cognitive disability.

2013

Child Neuropsychology, 2009

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