title: Spatial span in very prematurely born adolescents.
abstract: The working memory functions and processing speed of 35 adolescents born preterm (< or = 32 weeks of gestation) and those of 31 control adolescents were assessed at the age of 16 years. All study participants were free from major disabilities. There were no statistically significant differences in verbal IQ between the study groups. Adolescents born preterm performed less well in complex spatial span compared to their peers born full term, even when verbal IQ and processing speed were allowed to covary. Both groups performed equally well in other working memory tasks and processing speed. Gestational age was the primary contributor to spatial span performance. These results indicate a minor spatial working memory deficit in preterm born adolescents without major disability and with normal cognitive capacity. Our results are encouraging and indicate only minor neuropsychological consequences due to very preterm birth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Joensuu, Joensuu, Finland. pia.saavalainen@kuh.fi
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Saavalainen
authors.forename: Laila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Luoma
authors.forename: Dermot
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bowler
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maatta
authors.forename: Vesa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kiviniemi
authors.forename: Eila
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Laukkanen
authors.forename: Eila
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Herrgard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric