Effects of early psychosocial deprivation on the development of memory and executive function

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of early institutional care on memory and executive functioning. Subjects were participants in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP) and included institutionalized children, children with a history of institutionalization who were assigned to a foster care intervention, and community children in Bucharest, Romania. Memory and executive functioning were assessed at the age of 8 years using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test and Automated Battery (CANTAB). As expected, children with a history of early institutional care performed worse on measures of both visual memory and executive functioning compared to their peers without a history of institutional care. In comparing children randomly assigned to the foster care intervention with their peers who had continued care in the institution, initial comparisons did not show significant differences on any of the memory or executive functioning outcomes. However, for one of the measures of executive functioning, after controlling for birth weight, head circumference, and duration of time spent in early institutional care, the foster care intervention was a significant predictor of scores. These results support and extend previous findings of deficits in memory and executive functioning among school-age children with a history of early deprivation due to institutional care. This study has implications for the millions of children who continue to experience the psychosocial deprivation associated with early institutional care.

The effect of COMT Val158Met and DRD2 C957T polymorphisms on executive function and the impact of early life stress

“…This susceptibility may be due to its high density of glucocorticoid receptors and dopaminergic projections (Pani, Porcella, & Gessa, 2000), and the fact that it is one of the last brain regions to reach maturity (Gogtay & Thompson, 2010; Gogtay et al., 2004). In support of this, deficits in functions mediated by PFC and cortico‐striatal networks, such as attention, working memory and other executive functions, have also been reported in individuals who have experienced childhood trauma (Bos, Fox, Zeanah, & Nelson, 2009; Colvert et al., 2008). …”

“…Although the decreased D2 receptor binding (CC genotype) has been associated with poorer performance on timed attention tests in previous studies (Slagter et al., 2012; Yang et al., 2004), the main effect of genotype in our study emerged in two‐way ANCOVA with childhood trauma category as another fixed factor, showing that CC homozygotes who have experienced childhood trauma perform more poorly on a sustained attention test, compared to those who have not experienced childhood adversity. The effect of early life stress on cognitive outcomes has been repeatedly demonstrated in earlier studies (Bos et al., 2009; Colvert et al., 2008), and it is to be expected due to the long maturation period of the PFC (Gogtay & Thompson, 2010; Gogtay et al., 2004) and high concentration of glucocorticoid receptors and dopaminergic projections in the PFC (Pani et al., 2000). However, it should be noted that the genotype–early life stress interaction was only found in the RVP test.…”

Associations between early life adversity and executive function in children adopted internationally from orphanages

“…EF has been thought of as comprising three overlapping component skills: cognitive flexibility/rule shifting, updating/working memory, and inhibitory control (30). Previous laboratory studies with older PI children have shown reduced performance on each of these components: cognitive flexibility (11), working memory performance (11,12,15), and inhibitory control (13,15,31). Additionally, there are extensive reports that PI children show attention deficits and hyperactivity symptoms that persist into adolescence (32,33), which could signal long-term difficulties with EF.…”

“…Behavioral studies have shown that children who experienced early life deprivation but were adopted into nurturing homes exhibit reduced EF performance later in childhood, between the ages of 6 and 14 y (11)(12)(13)15), usually measured at least 3-4 y after adoption. EF has been thought of as comprising three overlapping component skills: cognitive flexibility/rule shifting, updating/working memory, and inhibitory control (30).…”

“…For instance, there is accumulating evidence that psychosocial deprivation in the form of being raised in an institution is associated with reduced performance in a variety of EF domains assessed years after adoption into an enriched family environment (11)(12)(13)(14)(15). Studies of children experiencing early adversity cannot definitively attribute reduced EF performance to their early experiences because of their frequent coexposure to multiple other prenatal and postnatal risk factors that stunt physical growth and cognitive development (16).…”