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Updated: Sep 16, 2026
A Method to Quantify Visual Information Processing in Children Using Eye Tracking
Published on: July 9, 2016
Characterizing neuropsychological performance and its nutritional, visual, and physiological correlates in children
Isaiah Osei Duah Junior1,2, Nana Aba Senuwah Ashon1, Wendy Ofori-Asare1
1Department of Optometry and Visual Science, College of Science, PMB, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Objective:
To characterize neuropsychological performance in Ghanaian preadolescent children and examine its associations with demographic, health, nutritional, and visual factors.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 290 preadolescent school children (median age: 11.0 years [IQR: 2.0]; range: 8-11 years; 54.8% female) from urban and rural public and private schools in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Neuropsychological function was assessed using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery, covering memory, executive function, attention, and psychomotor domains (minimum analytical sample: n = 150). Spearman's rank correlations assessed convergent validity and domain-specific independence. Associations between participant characteristics and cognitive performance were examined using multivariable linear regression, with Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) correction applied across all regression tests. Statistical significance was defined as an FDR-adjusted q < 0.05, whereas both unadjusted p-values and adjusted q-values were reported for transparency.
Results:
Cognitive performance exhibited a predominantly modular structure, characterized by strong within-task coherence and limited cross-domain integration. Males performed better than females on visual learning and psychomotor speed tasks, particularly Paired Associates Learning and movement reaction time measures (p < .05), whereas simple reaction time did not differ between sexes (p > .05). Following Benjamini-Hochberg FDR correction, no associations between cognitive performance and demographic, health, nutritional, or visual factors remained statistically significant.
Conclusion:
Neuropsychological functioning in Ghanaian preadolescent children appears to be predominantly modular, with limited evidence that demographic, health, nutritional, or visual factors are independently associated with cognitive performance after correction for multiple comparisons.