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Early working memory is a significant predictor of verbal and processing skills at 6-7 years in children born

Jean Lowe1, Carla M Bann2, Janell Fuller1

  • 1University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA.

Early Human Development
|June 7, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Early object permanence mastery in preterm infants is linked to better executive function, specifically verbal comprehension and processing speed, in girls by school age. This finding aids in identifying at-risk children for cognitive and memory challenges.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental neuroscience
  • Cognitive development
  • Pediatric research

Background:

  • Extremely preterm birth can impact long-term cognitive and working memory skills.
  • Object permanence is an early indicator of cognitive development and working memory.
  • Executive function develops throughout early childhood and is crucial for academic success.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between early object permanence attainment and later executive function in extremely preterm children.
  • To determine if early working memory skills predict cognitive abilities at school age.
  • To explore sex-specific differences in this association.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of children born extremely preterm.
  • Assessment of object permanence at 18-22 months corrected age.
  • Evaluation of executive function (verbal comprehension, processing speed) at 6-7 years using WISC-IV.

Main Results:

  • Children with early object permanence mastery showed higher WISC-IV scores in verbal comprehension and processing speed at 6-7 years.
  • Object permanence scores significantly predicted verbal comprehension and processing speed, even after controlling for other factors.
  • The association was significant for girls but not for boys.

Conclusions:

  • Early mastery of object permanence is associated with enhanced verbal comprehension and processing speed in extremely preterm girls.
  • These findings suggest object permanence may serve as an early marker for identifying preterm children at risk for cognitive and working memory deficits.
  • Intervention strategies could potentially be developed based on early cognitive assessments in preterm populations.
Abstract

Keywords:
DevelopmentExecutive functionExtremely low birth weight

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