ISSN:
1573-3580
Keywords:
phenylketonuria (PKU)
;
frontal lobe
;
executive function
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract The hypothesis that, by school age, children with early-treated phenylketonuria (PKU) have specific cognitive deficits in executive function skills was examined in 19 children with PKU and 19 age-, sex-, and IQ-matched control participants. Five tasks were used, three chosen to measure executive, or frontal-lobe, functions (problem-solving, working memory, and verbal fluency) and two as control measures (verbal memory and spatial perception). Children with PKU performed more poorly on the problem-solving task and on the verbal memory task, suggesting that cognitive impairments associated with PKU persist into the school-age years. In addition, cognitive performance among the children with PKU was found to be specific to the phenylalanine (phe) levels at the time of testing. The high-phe group performed consistently more poorly than the control group on four of the six measures of the problem-solving task and on the verbal memory task, whereas the low-phe group was comparable to the control group on all measures.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1009480013237
Permalink