Neurobehavioral evidence for working‐memory deficits in school‐aged children with histories of prematurity

Luciana, Mónica; Lindeke, Linda L.; Georgieff, Michael; Mills, Marla M.; Nelson, Charles A.

doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.1999.tb00652.x

Cited by 47 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Considering that, to correctly perform this task, an infant has to hold in mind the information on the previous test, it was concluded that it is working memory that is adversely influenced by the premature birth. This conclusion is consistent with findings evidencing the impairment of spatial working memory in schoolchildren born prematurely [25]. The available data consistently testify to a partial deficit of working memory, i.e., the ability to use information kept in a short-term memory buffer, in EP infants.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Endogenous Attention in 5-Month-Old Full-Term and Premature Infants

Stroganova

et al. 2005

Hum Physiol

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Recent advances in obstetrics and gynecology have increased the survival of extremely premature (EP) infants with a gestational age of less than 32 weeks and a birth weight of less than 1500 g. Such infants are referred to as a special group of EP infants, or infants with a very low birth weight. From the neonatological point of view, EP infants are considered to be at risk of abnormal psychomotor development [1].The increasing survival of EP infants has stimulated research on their mental development. Many studies have focused on the school performance of EP infants. The findings evidence differences both in academic progress and in the total intelligence quotient (IQ) between EP and control infants [2,3]. The psychomotor retardation detected in EP infants depends, as a rule, on their pre-and perinatal health status. However, even healthy EP (HEP) infants, i.e., those with no neurological or somatic disorders shortly after birth or at a very young age, demonstrate a partial deficit in performing tasks that require voluntary control of attention [4]. It is highly probable that the fact that values of the IQ and other psychometric characteristics in HEP infants are at the lower limits of the normal range is caused by impaired voluntary control of attention.Early detection, prediction, and correction of suboptimal cognitive development are of great importance for HEP infants. However, it is still unclear to what extent a partial deficit of attention during their school years depends on the impairment of the control of attention observed at a very young age. Recent studies on the neurological and somatic status of EP infants did not reveal differences in either behavioral characteristics of visual attention or psychomotor development indices between EP and control infants [5]. If the conclusions drawn in these studies are true, then how can we explain this difference between the normal development of attention in HEP infants during the first year of life and the impaired control of attention during their further development? We believe that the nature of the characteristics used in the above studies on so-called exogenous attention in infancy can explain the lack of data on early precursors of attention deficit. Other recent studies have suggested two types of attention in infants: one is motivated by external afferent stimuli (with an external locus of control) and the other is motivated by internal cognitive processes (with an internal locus of control) [6]. Development of the mechanisms responsible for attention with an internal locus of control is thought to be a major component of the cognitive processes in infants [7].A number of recent experimental paradigms make it possible to study the mechanisms responsible for the control of endogenous attention (EA) in infants. One of them, the visual expectation paradigm (VEP), assumes that infants will keep their visual attention on the expected spatial location of a stimulus that is not present in the visual field. Upon repeated presentation of visual stimuli in accor...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Endogenous Attention in 5-Month-Old Full-Term and Premature Infants

Stroganova

et al. 2005

Hum Physiol

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“…Although this cognitive function could be involved in the explanation of their performance, it is important to take into account that groups differed in the low difficulty condition, which requires keeping active only one position and probably did not demand high working memory resources. In relation to this, Luciana et al (1999) reported in 7-9-year-old preterm children that they did not differ from controls under low difficulty conditions (with searches for two or three items).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…Previous studies reported visuospatial memory alterations in preterm children (Clark & Woodward, 2010;Luciana, Lindeke, Georgieff, Mills, & Nelson, 1999;Omizzolo et al, 2013;Vicari, Caravale, Carlesimo, Casadei, & Allemand, 2004). Omizzolo et al (2013) showed that 7-year-old very preterm children were impaired in comparison to controls in different visuospatial tasks like block recall or dot locations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Spatial learning in a virtual reality-based task is altered in very preterm children

Cimadevilla

Roldán

París

et al. 2014

Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology

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Very preterm births prevent a complete development of the nervous system. The hippocampus is especially vulnerable in this population since the perinatal period is critical for its growth and development. Learning and memory abilities, like spatial memory, depend on the hippocampal integrity. In this study we applied virtual-reality-based tasks to assess spatial memory in a sample of 20 very preterm children of 7 and 8 years of age. Two different conditions of difficulty were used. Very preterm children performed poorly in the task in comparison with the control group. They committed more errors than controls searching for the rewarded positions. However, no significant differences were observed in the mean speed, an index of the motor abilities and joystick handling. These results suggest that the hippocampal function is affected in this sample. Nevertheless, other variables to consider are discussed.

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“…Working memory involves holding relevant information in the mind for short times and is involved in completing increasingly complex tasks as children move through the school years. A study of working memory in LBW and VLBW children aged 7 to 9 years, who attended mainstream schools, and a control sample of full-term peers was conducted by Luciana et al (1999). Deficits in the areas of recognition memory, memory span, and spatial working memory were found in the LBW and VLBW children in comparison with their full-term peers.…”

Section: Executive Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Educational Needs of School-Aged Children Born Very and Extremely Preterm: A Review

Hornby

Woodward

2009

Educ Psychol Rev

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Recent decades have witnessed dramatically improved survival rates for infants born prematurely, especially those born very and extremely preterm. Follow-up studies concerned with long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes for children born preterm indicate that these children are at high risk for a range of cognitive, learning, neuromotor, and behavioral difficulties. However, to date, most of the existing literature has tended to focus on the medical and developmental impact of preterm birth, with little consideration given to the educational implications. Addressing this research gap is important since cognitive and educational difficulties represent the most commonly occurring cluster of adverse outcomes affecting children born very or extremely preterm, with up to two thirds likely to require educational assistance during their school years. The goal of this review is to provide an overview of existing research findings relating to the educational needs of school-age preterm children. Methodological issues that need to be addressed in future outcome research relating to the developmental and educational needs of very preterm children are also highlighted. Finally, implications of existing findings for educational psychologists, counselors, teachers, and teacher educators are discussed in terms of the roles of society, education systems, schools, and teachers.

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Neurobehavioral evidence for working‐memory deficits in school‐aged children with histories of prematurity

Cited by 47 publications

References 58 publications

Endogenous Attention in 5-Month-Old Full-Term and Premature Infants

Endogenous Attention in 5-Month-Old Full-Term and Premature Infants

Spatial learning in a virtual reality-based task is altered in very preterm children

Educational Needs of School-Aged Children Born Very and Extremely Preterm: A Review

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