In an attempt to find out whether decreased blood sugar level is associated with impaired cognitive function, adverse emotional changes, or somatic symptoms, 35 subjects who suspected that they had hypoglycemia were given 5-hr glucose tolerance tests (GTTs). Nine blood samples were taken during the GTT, and the subject's mood, Serial Sevens Test (SST) performance, and somatic symptom reports were recorded on each occasion of sampling. The subjects reported significantly more negative affect and somatic symptoms after glucose nadir than before nadir. SST performance deteriorated at glucose nadir. These effects were more pronounced for subjects with high hypoglycemic index scores than for subjects with low index scores. The impairment in SST performance was greater for subjects who showed rapid decreases in blood sugar than for subjects who showed slow decreases. Dividing subjects by high and low nadirs did not reveal any differences in symptomatology.
-One well-established fact concerning cognitive and language development in individuals with Down syndrome is that working memory is particularly poor, with auditory working memory worse than visual working memory. Working memory serves the functions of control, regulation, and active maintenance of information and is critical in daily complex cognitive activities. Thus, there is a strong need to fi nd effective and practical interventions targeted at improving working memory in individuals with Down syndrome. The present paper reviews research on rehearsal training and concludes that it can be used successfully to increase working memory in individuals with Down syndrome. However, there are still questions about whether auditory working memory can be improved reliably, whether improvement can be maintained over the long term, and whether improvement exists beyond any effect of increased attention. We describe our in-progress study which addresses these concerns.
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