EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING AND WORKING MEMORY DEFICITS ON THE CANTAB® AMONG CHILDREN WITH PRENATAL ALCOHOL EXPOSURE
Main Article Content
Keywords
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), Executive function (EF), memory, CANTAB®
Abstract
Background
Children with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) display numerous neuropsychological impairments, including deficits on measures of executive functioning (EF) and working memory.
Objectives
The goal of this project was to examine whether children with PAE and FASD demonstrate EF and working memory deficits on the CANTAB® (a computerized neuropsychological test).
Methods
Twenty-four children with PAE and 26 control children were tested on the CANTAB®.
Results
Children with PAE demonstrated deficits in the areas of executive functioning, working memory, and attention. Among the PAE group, those with FASD were specifically impaired on working memory capacity.
Conclusions
The CANTAB® is a useful tool for detecting neurobehavioral deficits in children with PAE.
References
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18. Mattson SN, Goodman AM, Caine C, Delis DC, Riley EP. Executive functioning in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1999;23:1808-15.
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26. Jacobson JL, Jacobson SW, Sokol RJ, Ager JW. Relation of maternal age and pattern of pregnancy drinking to functionally significant cognitive deficit in infancy. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1998;22: 345-51.
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31. Visu-Petra L, Benga O, Tincas I, Miclea M. Visual-spatial processing in children and adolescents with Down’s Syndrome: A computerized assessment of memory skills. J Intellect Disabil Res 2007; 51:942-52.
32. Bennetto L, Pennington BF, Rogers SJ. Intact and impaired memory functions in autism. Child Dev 1996;67:1816-35.
33. Hughes C, Russell J, Robbins TW. Evidence for executive dysfunction in autism. Neuropsychologia 1994;32:477-92.
34. Kempton S, Vance A, Maruff P, Luk E, Costin J, Pantelis C. Executive function and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Stimulant medication and better executive function performance in children. Psychol Med 1999;29:527-38.
35. Luciana M. Practitioner review: Computerized assessment of neuropsychological function in children: Clinical and research applications of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Testing Automated Battery (CANTAB). J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2003;44:649-63.
36. Luciana M, Nelson CA. Assessment of neuropsychological function through use of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Testing Automated Battery: Performance in 4- to 12- year-old children. Dev Neuropsychol 2002;22:595-624.
37. Fray PJ, Robbins TW. CANTAB: Proposed utility in neurotoxicology. Neurotoxicol Teratol 1996;18:499-504.
38. Robbins TW, James M, Owen AM, et al. A study of performance on tests from the CANTAB battery sensitive to frontal lobe dysfunction in a large sample of normal volunteers: Implications for theories of executive functioning and cognitive aging. Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 1998;4:474-90.
39. Spadoni AD, McGee CL, Fryer SL, Riley EP. Neuroimaging and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2007;31:239- 45.
40. Green CR, Mihic AM, Nikkel SM, et al. Executive function deficits in children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) measured using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Tests Automated Battery (CANTAB). J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2009;50:688-97.
41. Stigler JW, Miller KF. A good match is hard to find: Comment on Mayer, Tajika, and Stanley (1991). J Educ Psychol 1993;85:554- 9.
42. Lee KT, Mattson SN, Riley EP. Classifying children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure using measures of attention. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2004;10:271-7.
43. Nanson JL, Hiscock M. Attention deficits in children exposed to alcohol prenatally. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1990;14:656-61.
44. Kodituwakku PW, Handmaker N, Cutler S, Weathersby E, Handmaker S. Specific impairments in self-regulation in children exposed to alcohol prenatally. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1995;19:1558-64.
45. Manji S, Pei J, Loomes C, Rasmussen, C. A review of verbal and visual memory impairments in children with FASD. Developmental Neurorehabilitation 2009:12:239-247.
2. Burd L, Klug M, Martsolf J, Kerbeshian J. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Neuropsychiatric phenomics. Neurotoxicol Teratol 2003;25:697-705.
3. Sampson PD, Streissguth AP, Bookstein FL, et al. Incidence of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and prevalence of alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder. Teratology 1997;56:317-26.
4. Jones KL, Smith DW. Recognition of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in early infancy. Lancet 1973;2:999-1001.
5. Rasmussen C, Horne K, Witol A. Neurobehavioral functioning in children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Child Neuropsychol 2006;12:1-16.
6. Streissguth AP, O’Malley K. Neuropsychiatric implications and long-term consequences of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Semin Clin Neuropsychiatry 2000;5:177-90.
7. Mattson SN, Riley EP, Gramling L, Delis DC, Jones KL. Neuropsychological comparison of alcohol-exposed children with or without physical features of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Neuropsychology 1998;12:146-53.
8. Kodituwakku PW. Defining the behavioral phenotype in children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: A review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2007;31:192-201.
9. Rasmussen C. Executive functioning and working memory in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2005;29:1359-67.
10. Zelazo PD, Mueller U. Executive function in typical and atypical development. In: Goswami U, ed. Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Cognitive Development. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2003:445-69.
11. Welsh MC, Pennington BF, Grossier DB. A normative-developmental study of executive function: A window of prefrontal function in children. Dev Neuropsychol 1991;7:131-49.
12. Mihalick SM, Crandall JE, Langlois JC, Krienke JD, Dube WV. Prenatal ethanol exposure, generalized learning impairment, and medial prefrontal cortical deficits in rats. Neurotoxicol Teratol 2001; 23:453-62.
13. Sowell ER, Thompson PM, Mattson SN, et al. Regional brain shape abnormalities persist into adolescence after heavy prenatal alcohol exposure. Cereb Cortex 2002;12:856-65.
14. Wass TS, Persutte WH, Hobbins JC. The impact of prenatal alcohol exposure on frontal cortex development in utero. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2001;185:737-42.
15. Stuss DT, Knight RT. Principles of Frontal Lobe Function. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2002.
16. Roberts RJ, Pennington BF. An interactive framework for examining prefrontal cognitive processes. Dev Neuropsychol 1996;12:105- 26.
17. Rasmussen C, Bisanz J. Executive functioning in children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Profiles and age-related differences. Child Neuropsychol 2008;15:201-15.
18. Mattson SN, Goodman AM, Caine C, Delis DC, Riley EP. Executive functioning in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1999;23:1808-15.
19. Schonfeld AM, Mattson SN, Lang A, Delis DC, Riley EP. Verbal and nonverbal fluency in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure. J Stud Alcohol 2001;62:239-46.
20. Kodituwakku PW, Kalberg W, May PA. The effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on executive functioning. Alcohol Res Health 2001;25:192-8.
21. Rasmussen C, McAuley R, Andrew G. Parental ratings of children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). J FAS Int 2007;5:1-8.
22. Baddeley A. Working memory. Science 1992;255:556-9.
23. Baddeley AD, Hitch G. Working memory. In: Bower GA, ed. The Psychology of Learning and Motivation. New York, NY: Academic Press, 1974:47-89.
24. Baddeley A. Exploring the central executive. Q J Exp Psychol 1996;49:5-28.
25. Streissguth AP, Barr HM, Sampson PD. Moderate prenatal alcohol exposure: Effects on child IQ and learning problems at age 7 1/2 years. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1990;14:662-9.
26. Jacobson JL, Jacobson SW, Sokol RJ, Ager JW. Relation of maternal age and pattern of pregnancy drinking to functionally significant cognitive deficit in infancy. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1998;22: 345-51.
27. Carmichael Olson H, Feldman J, Streissguth AP, Sampson PD, Bookstein FL. Neuropsychological deficit in adolescents with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Clinical findings. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1998; 22:1998-2012.
28. Gray JK, Streissguth AP. Memory deficits and life adjustment in adults with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: A case control study. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1990;14:294.
29. Uecker A, Nadel L. Spatial locations gone awry: Object and spatial memory deficits in children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Neuropsychologia 1996;34:209-23.
30. Sahakian B, Owen A. Computerized assessment in neuropsychiatry using CANTAB: Discussion paper. J R Soc Med 1992;85:399-402.
31. Visu-Petra L, Benga O, Tincas I, Miclea M. Visual-spatial processing in children and adolescents with Down’s Syndrome: A computerized assessment of memory skills. J Intellect Disabil Res 2007; 51:942-52.
32. Bennetto L, Pennington BF, Rogers SJ. Intact and impaired memory functions in autism. Child Dev 1996;67:1816-35.
33. Hughes C, Russell J, Robbins TW. Evidence for executive dysfunction in autism. Neuropsychologia 1994;32:477-92.
34. Kempton S, Vance A, Maruff P, Luk E, Costin J, Pantelis C. Executive function and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Stimulant medication and better executive function performance in children. Psychol Med 1999;29:527-38.
35. Luciana M. Practitioner review: Computerized assessment of neuropsychological function in children: Clinical and research applications of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Testing Automated Battery (CANTAB). J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2003;44:649-63.
36. Luciana M, Nelson CA. Assessment of neuropsychological function through use of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Testing Automated Battery: Performance in 4- to 12- year-old children. Dev Neuropsychol 2002;22:595-624.
37. Fray PJ, Robbins TW. CANTAB: Proposed utility in neurotoxicology. Neurotoxicol Teratol 1996;18:499-504.
38. Robbins TW, James M, Owen AM, et al. A study of performance on tests from the CANTAB battery sensitive to frontal lobe dysfunction in a large sample of normal volunteers: Implications for theories of executive functioning and cognitive aging. Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 1998;4:474-90.
39. Spadoni AD, McGee CL, Fryer SL, Riley EP. Neuroimaging and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2007;31:239- 45.
40. Green CR, Mihic AM, Nikkel SM, et al. Executive function deficits in children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) measured using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Tests Automated Battery (CANTAB). J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2009;50:688-97.
41. Stigler JW, Miller KF. A good match is hard to find: Comment on Mayer, Tajika, and Stanley (1991). J Educ Psychol 1993;85:554- 9.
42. Lee KT, Mattson SN, Riley EP. Classifying children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure using measures of attention. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2004;10:271-7.
43. Nanson JL, Hiscock M. Attention deficits in children exposed to alcohol prenatally. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1990;14:656-61.
44. Kodituwakku PW, Handmaker N, Cutler S, Weathersby E, Handmaker S. Specific impairments in self-regulation in children exposed to alcohol prenatally. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 1995;19:1558-64.
45. Manji S, Pei J, Loomes C, Rasmussen, C. A review of verbal and visual memory impairments in children with FASD. Developmental Neurorehabilitation 2009:12:239-247.