Better working memory for non-social targets in infant siblings of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder - PubMed (original) (raw)

Better working memory for non-social targets in infant siblings of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Julia S Noland et al. Dev Sci. 2010.

Abstract

We compared working memory (WM) for the location of social versus non-social targets in infant siblings of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (sibs-ASD, n = 25) and of typically developing children (sibs-TD, n = 30) at 6.5 and 9 months of age. There was a significant interaction of risk group and target type on WM, in which the sibs-ASD had better WM for non-social targets as compared with controls. There was no group by stimulus interaction on two non-memory measures. The results suggest that the increased competency of sibs-ASD in WM (creating, updating and using transient representations) for non-social stimuli distinguishes them from sibs-TD by 9 months of age. This early emerging strength is discussed as a developmental pathway that may have implications for social attention and learning in children at risk for ASD.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

The side view (Figure 1a) demonstrating the distance from the infant to the apparatus and the infants' view (Figure 1b&c).

Figure 1

Figure 1

The side view (Figure 1a) demonstrating the distance from the infant to the apparatus and the infants' view (Figure 1b&c).

Figure 2

Figure 2

Figure 2a. Working memory performance by Target Condition for sibs-TD (n=30) and sibs-ASD (n=25). Least square means estimates and corresponding standard errors. Figure 2b. The individual distribution of social vs. nonsocial working memory scores contributing to the interaction depicted in Figure 2a. The dashed line indicates equal success between social and non-social conditions. Where data is complete, average of the 6.5 and 9-months visit is included. Otherwise, the data is from the single available visit.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Baron-Cohen S. Two new theories of autism: hyper-systemizing and assortative mating. Archives of Diseases in Childhood. 2006;91:2–5. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baron-Cohen S, Wheelwright S, Scahill V, Lawson J, Spong A. Are intuitive physics and intuitive psychology independent? Journal of Developmental and Learning Disorders. 2001;5:47–78.
    1. Baron-Cohen S, Hammer J. Parents of children with Asperger Syndrome: what is the cognitive phenotype? Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 1997;9:548–554. - PubMed
    1. Baron-Cohon S, Wheelwright S, Stott C, Bolton P, Goodyer I. Is there a link between engineering and autism? Autism: An International Journal of Research and Practice. 1997;1:153–163.
    1. Bennetto L, Pennington B, Rogers S. Intact and impaired memory functions in Autism. Child Development. 1996;67:1816–1835. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources