NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery Feasibility in Individuals With Williams Syndrome

The NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB) was developed for epidemiological and longitudinal studies across a wide age span. Such a tool may be useful for intervention trials in conditions characterized by intellectual disability (ID), such as Williams syndrome (WS). Three NIHTB-CB tasks, including two executive functioning (Flanker, Dimensional Change Card Sort) and one episodic memory (Picture Sequence Memory) task, were given to 47 individuals with WS, ages 4 to 50, to evaluate feasibility (i.e., proportion of valid administrations) in this population. Findings indicated that NIHTB-CB tests showed good feasibility. Flanker and DCCS age-corrected scores were negatively correlated with age and showed floor effects, indicating these scores may not be useful for quantifying performance on these NIHTB-CB tests in ID.