title: Working memory in very-low-birthweight children at the age of 11 years.
abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the working memory (WM) of very-low-birthweight (VLBW, ≤ 1500 g) children at the age of 11 years using Baddeley's WM model. A regional cohort of 95 VLBW children was assessed for the domains of the WM model (central executive [CE], visuospatial sketchpad [VS], and phonological loop [PL]) using subtests from the Working Memory Test Battery for Children (WMTB-C) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). VLBW children were categorized into three groups according to their degree of brain pathology (normal, minor, or major) in neonatal brain magnetic resonance imaging at the term age, and the WM performance was compared between groups to test norms. The structure of the WM model was studied by analyzing correlations among domains. Even VLBW children with normal cognitive development (general ability index ≥ 85) performed worse compared to the test norms (M = 100, SD = 15) on CE (M = 87.64, SD = 20.54, p < .001) and VS (M = 91.65, SD = 11.03, p < .001), but their performance on PL was above the norm (M = 110.79, SD = 13.79, p < .001). VLBW children with major brain pathology performed significantly worse on VS and PL compared to the other groups. The correlations among the WM domains of the VLBW children differ from earlier findings in normative populations. To conclude, the WM of the VLBW children in the study differ-especially in the CE and VS subtest scores-from the normative population irrespective of the degree of brain pathology and level of cognitive development.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Turku , Finland.|b Helsinki University Hospital , Child Neurology , Finland.
authors.forename: Satu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Korpela
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Turku , Finland.|c Turku University Hospital , Child Neurology , Finland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nyman
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Turku , Finland.|c Turku University Hospital , Child Neurology , Finland.
authors.forename: Petriina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Munck
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Turku , Finland.
authors.forename: Annarilla
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahtola
authors.affiliation: d Clinical Research Center , Turku University Hospital , Finland.
authors.forename: Jaakko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Matomäki
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Turku , Finland.
authors.forename: Tapio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Korhonen
authors.affiliation: e Department of Radiology, Turku PET Center , Turku University Hospital , Finland.|f Department of Medicine , University of Turku , Finland.
authors.forename: Riitta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Parkkola
authors.affiliation: b Helsinki University Hospital , Child Neurology , Finland.|g Department of Pediatric Neurology, Children's Hospital , University of Helsinki , Finland.
authors.forename: Leena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Haataja
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D014888:Wechsler Scales
keywords: Brain pathology; Central executive; Magnetic resonance imaging; Phonological loop; Preterm; Visuospatial sketchpad; Working memory