Modeling the Relations Among Sustained Attention, Short-Term Memory, and Language in Down Syndrome

2019 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 293-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gayle G. Faught ◽  
Frances A. Conners
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Language Therapy ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Mediation Analyses ◽  
Point Estimates ◽  
Improved Outcomes

Abstract Sustained attention (SA) and short-term memory (STM) contribute to language function in Down syndrome (DS). We proposed models in which relations of SA to language in DS are mediated by STM. Thirty-seven youth with DS aged 10–22 years (M = 15.59) completed SA, STM, and language tasks. Cross-sectional mediation analyses were run with the bootstrapping method. We found significant indirect effects of SA separately on vocabulary and syntax through auditory STM with point estimates of −.30 and −.31, respectively. Results suggest lapses in SA compromise auditory STM, which in turn impacts vocabulary and syntax in youth with DS; however, further research is needed to confirm causality. Addressing SA and STM in language therapy with youth with DS could lead to improved outcomes.

scholarly journals Phonological Short-Term Memory Impairment in Children with Down Syndrome

2021 ◽  
Vol 89 (6) ◽  
pp. 897-902
Author(s):  
EMAN F. EL-WAKIL, M.D.; RASHA M. SHOEIB, M.D. ◽  
YOSSRA A.N. SALLAM, M.D.; MAHA H. BOSHNAQ, M.D.
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Memory Impairment ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Children With Down Syndrome

Acute Exercise and Sustained Attention on Memory Function

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 326-332
Author(s):  
Audreaiona Waters ◽  
Liye Zou ◽  
Myungjin Jung ◽  
Qian Yu ◽  
Jingyuan Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Acute Exercise ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Function ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Term Memory

Objective: Sustained attention is critical for various activities of daily living, including engaging in health-enhancing behaviors and inhibition of health compromising behaviors. Sustained attention activates neural networks involved in episodic memory function, a critical cognition for healthy living. Acute exercise has been shown to activate these same neural networks. Thus, it is plausible that engaging in a sustained attention task and engaging in a bout of acute exercise may have an additive effect in enhancing memory function, which was the purpose of this experiment. Methods: 23 young adults (Mage = 20.7 years) completed 2 visits, with each visit occurring approximately 24 hours apart, in a counterbalanced order, including: (1) acute exercise with sustained attention, and (2) sustained attention only. Memory was assessed using a word-list paradigm and included a short- and long-term memory assessment. Sustained attention was induced via a sustained attention to response task (SART). Acute exercise involved a 15-minute bout of moderate-intensity exercise. Results: Short-term memory performance was significantly greater than long-term memory, Mdiff = 1.86, p < .001, and short-term memory for Exercise with Sustained Attention was significantly greater than short-term memory for Sustained Attention Only, Mdiff = 1.50, p = .01. Conclusion: Engaging in an acute bout of exercise before a sustained attention task additively influenced short-term memory function.

Language Influences on Verbal Short-Term Memory Performance in Down Syndrome

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 1334-1346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Brock ◽  
Christopher Jarrold
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Term Memory

Down syndrome is associated with severe deficits in language and verbal short-term memory, but the causal relationship between these deficits is unclear. The current study therefore investigated the influence of language abilities on verbal short-term memory performance in Down syndrome. Twenty-one individuals with Down syndrome and 29 younger typically developing children were tested on memory for words and nonwords using 2 immediate recognition tasks: an order memory task that was a relatively pure measure of verbal short-term memory and an item memory task that was more sensitive to language ability. Despite having superior vocabulary knowledge to the typically developing children, individuals with Down syndrome were impaired on both order and item tasks. This impairment was particularly marked on the item task, where individuals with Down syndrome showed an atypically large lexicality effect. These results are interpreted in terms of an underlying verbal short-term memory deficit in Down syndrome that is compounded by poor phonological discrimination abilities.

Sentence Comprehension in Adolescents With Down Syndrome and Typically Developing Children

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 172-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuliana Miolo ◽  
Robin S. Chapman ◽  
Heidi A. Sindberg
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Semantic Role ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Role Assignment ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory

The authors evaluated the roles of auditory-verbal short-term memory, visual short-term memory, and group membership in predicting language comprehension, as measured by an experimental sentence comprehension task (SCT) and the Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language—Third Edition (TACL-3; E. Carrow-Woolfolk, 1999) in 38 participants: 19 with Down syndrome (DS), age 12 to 21 years, and 19 typically developing (TD) children, age 3 to 5 years, matched on syntax comprehension, as measured by TACL-3 Subtests II and III. Of the 5 dependent measures of comprehension, auditory-verbal short-term memory accounted for significant amounts of variance in 4; group membership, 1 (semantic role assignment); and visual short-term memory, 0. In the group with DS, hearing status predicted variation in Grammatical Morphemes (TACL-3 Subtest II). Using the SCT, the authors also investigated the effects of varying sentence voice and supporting visual context on sentence comprehension. SCT performance was significantly poorer in terms of (a) referent selection and semantic role assignment, for passive (vs. active) sentences in both groups, and (b) semantic role assignment in all sentences for the group with DS (vs. the TD group). Vocabulary strengths in the group with DS were found with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test—Third Edition (L. M. Dunn & L. M. Dunn, 1997) but not the TACL-3 Vocabulary subtest.

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