Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Mouse Round Spermatid Injection
Published on: January 26, 2024
Cognitive development of singletons conceived by intracytoplasmic sperm injection or in vitro fertilization at age 5
Lutz Goldbeck1, Friedrich Gagsteiger, Inge Mindermann
1Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychotherapy, University Ulm, Ulm, Germany. lutz.goldbeck@uniklinik-ulm.de
Objective:
To investigate the cognitive functioning of low-risk singletons born after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF) at the age of 5 or 10 years.
Methods:
Sixty-nine children (35 ICSI, 34 IVF) participated voluntarily in the study that had been approved by the local IRB. Their intellectual functioning was examined by the Kaufmann Assessment Battery for Children.
Results:
The IQ of the study group fell in the normal range (mean = 98.2; SD = 12.2). ICSI children (IQ = 94.1, SD = 13.8) had statistically lower intellectual abilities compared to IVF children (IQ = 102.0, SD = 9.1; t = -2.81, p = .005), especially in simultaneous mental processing. 23.5% ICSI children, but only 2.9% IVF children (p = .011) had at least borderline delayed cognitive development.
Conclusions:
Most artificially conceived singletons show a normal cognitive development, however the method of fertilization seems to have an impact on their IQ. ICSI might be associated with the risk for a slightly delayed cognitive development compared to IVF.
Related Concept Videos
Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development
Exploration...
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development from Childhood into Adulthood
Schemata: Building Blocks of Knowledge
Schemata...
Piaget's Stage 3 of Cognitive Development
Conservation and Constancy of Quantity
A significant cognitive milestone in the concrete...
Piaget's Stage 4 of Cognitive Development
Abstract Reasoning and Hypothetical-Deductive Thinking
Unlike the concrete operational...
Information Processing Approach
Revisionist Views of Adolescent and Adult Cognition

