title: Precursors of executive function in infants with sickle cell anemia.
abstract: Executive dysfunction occurs in sickle cell anemia, but there are few early data. Infants with sickle cell anemia (n = 14) and controls (n = 14) performed the "A-not-B" and Object Retrieval search tasks, measuring precursors of executive function at 9 and 12 months. Significant group differences were not found. However, for the A-not-B task, 7 of 11 sickle cell anemia infants scored in the lower 2 performance categories at 9 months, but only 1 at 12 months (P = .024); controls obtained scores at 12 months that were statistically comparable to the scores they had already obtained at 9 months. On the Object Retrieval task, 9- and 12-month controls showed comparable scores, whereas infants with sickle cell anemia continued to improve (P = .027); at 9 months, those with lower hemoglobin oxygen saturation passed fewer trials (R s = 0.670, P = .024) and took longer to obtain the toy (R s = -0.664, P = .013). Subtle delays in acquiring developmental skills may underlie abnormal executive function in childhood.
authors.affiliation: 1Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, UCL Institute of Child Health, and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alexandra M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hogan
authors.forename: Paul T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Telfer
authors.forename: Fenella J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Kirkham
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Haan
mesh_terms: D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests