Memory and Response Inhibition in Young Children with Single-Suture Craniosynostosis

Abstract

Using two versions of the A-not-B task, memory and response inhibition were assessed in 17-to 24-month-old children with surgically corrected single-suture craniosynostosis (cases) and unaffected children (controls). Children's development and language were initially assessed on average at 6-7 months of age and again at this second visit. Cases and controls performed at equivalent levels on average, with cases performing slightly better than controls on several of the variables measured. However, fewer cases than controls were able to complete the more challenging of the two tasks, which may have predictive significance for later functioning. Children's age and cognitive ability were related to successful performance on the A-not-B task. Among cases, age of cranioplastic surgery was unrelated to performance. Our findings suggest that children with single-suture craniosynostosis show normal development of visual memory and response inhibition in the age range studied here.

Guideline for Care of Patients With the Diagnoses of Craniosynostosis

“…Young children with nonsyndromic craniosynostosis obtained memory and response inhibition task scores that did not deviate significantly from the scores of a control group without craniosynostosis. 394 …”

Longitudinal study of the neurodevelopmental characteristics of treated and untreated nonsyndromic craniosynostosis in infancy

“…With respect to the contribution of timing of surgical intervention and developmental outcome, most studies addressing this issue have failed to find an association between age at surgery and postoperative developmental status [11,14,[20][21][22]. However, Arnaud et al, [23] and Bottero et al, [24] found that post-operative mental outcome was better when surgery was performed before one year of age.…”

Attention and executive function in children with and without single-suture craniosynostosis

“…Further, there was a ‘downward shift’ in the distribution of scores among cases relative to test norms, with cases more likely than controls to score below average relative to test norms and less likely to score in the above average or superior range. In addition to these broad measures, at age 18 months we completed experimental tasks based on the A not B paradigm (Toth et al, 2008) to assess early executive function (EF) and inhibition. Group differences on these tasks were negligible, though fewer children with SSC than controls were able to complete the most challenging tasks, possibly indicating problems with EF under more demanding conditions.…”