title: Short-term memory in children with sickle cell disease: executive versus modality-specific processing deficits.
abstract: Prior research has identified a number of areas of cognitive deficit among children with sickle cell disease (SCD), including decrements in memory span and working memory. The present study examined short-term memory span and working memory performance among children with SCD (n = 25) and demographically matched comparison children (n = 25) using digit span, spatial span, and the self-ordered pointing test. Children with SCD showed difficulties only for digit span-backward. Additional cognitive ability measures administered indicated auditory processing was an area of deficit related to digit span-backward performance. The study suggests that modality specific deficits are one factor in short-term memory span for children with SCD. The cause of this deficit is unclear, but may involve both central and peripheral components of auditory processing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. schatz@sc.edu
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schatz
authors.forename: Carla W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Roberts
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014888:Wechsler Scales