Executive Function in Adolescents with Down Syndrome

Autor/inn/en	Lanfranchi, S.; Jerman, O.; Dal Pont, E.; Alberti, A.; Vianello, R.
Titel	Executive Function in Adolescents with Down Syndrome
Quelle	In: Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 54 (2010) 4, S.308-319 (12 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0964-2633
DOI	10.1111/j.1365-2788.2010.01262.x
Schlagwörter	Adolescents; Down Syndrome; Adults; Alzheimers Disease; Children; Short Term Memory; Inhibition; Mental Age; Problem Solving + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Adolescent; Adolescence; Adoleszenz; Jugend; Jugendalter; Jugendlicher; 'Downs Syndrome; Down''s Syndrome'; Down-Syndrom; Child; Kind; Kinder; Kurzzeitgedächtnis; Hemmung; Geistige Beweglichkeit; Problemlösen
Abstract	Background: The present work is aimed at analysing executive function (EF) in adolescents with Down Syndrome (DS). So far, EF has been analysed mainly in adults with DS, showing a pattern of impairment. However, less is known about children and adolescents with this syndrome. Studying adolescents with DS might help us better understand whether performances on EF tasks of individuals with DS are determined by age or by Alzheimer disease, as some studies suggest, or whether their performances are directly related to DS cognitive profile. Method: A battery of EF tasks assessing set shifting, planning/problem-solving, working memory, inhibition/perseveration and fluency, as well as a tasks assessing sustained attention has been administered to a group of 15 adolescents with DS and 15 typically developing children matched for mental age. All EF tasks were selected from previous studies with individuals with intellectual disabilities or from developmental literature and are thought to be useful for the samples considered. Results: The present results revealed that the group of individuals with DS performed at a significantly lower level on tasks assessing set shifting, planning/problem-solving, working memory and inhibition/perseveration, but not on the tasks assessing fluency. In addition, individuals with DS demonstrated a greater number of errors and less strategy use for the sustained attention task. Conclusions: The results suggest a broad impairment in EF in adolescents with DS, and are consistent with several similar studies conducted with adults with DS. We assume that EF deficit is a characteristic of DS. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10