Executive function in adolescents with Down Syndrome

Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models

Background The present work is aimed at analysing executive function (EF) in adolescents with Down Syndrome (DS). So far, EF has been analysed mainly in adults with DS, showing a pattern of impairment. However, less is known about children and adolescents with this syndrome. Studying adolescents with DS might help us better understand whether performances on EF tasks of individuals with DS are determined by age or by Alzheimer disease, as some studies suggest, or whether their performances are directly related to DS cognitive profile. Method A battery of EF tasks assessing set shifting, planning/problem-solving, working memory, inhibition/perseveration and fluency, as well as a tasks assessing sustained attention has been administered to a group of 15 adolescents with DS and 15 typically developing children matched for mental age. All EF tasks were selected from previous studies with individuals with intellectual disabilities or from developmental literature and are thought to be useful for the samples considered. Results The present results revealed that the group of individuals with DS performed at a significantly lower level on tasks assessing set shifting, planning/problem-solving, working memory and inhibition/perseveration, but not on the tasks assessing fluency. In addition, individuals with DS demonstrated a greater number of errors and less strategy use for the sustained attention task. Conclusions The results suggest a broad impairment in EF in adolescents with DS, and are consistent with several similar studies conducted with adults with DS. We assume that EF deficit is a characteristic of DS.

Key findings

• Results The present results revealed that the group of individuals with DS performed at a significantly lower level on tasks assessing set shifting, planning/problem-solving, working memory and inhibition/perseveration, but not on the tasks assessing fluency.
• In addition, individuals with DS demonstrated a greater number of errors and less strategy use for the sustained attention task.
• Conclusions The results suggest a broad impairment in EF in adolescents with DS, and are consistent with several similar studies conducted with adults with DS.

Why it matters

This study found that adolescents with Down syndrome performed worse than typically developing children on several tests of executive function, such as planning and working memory. The results are about thinking skills in adolescents and do not test or propose a treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

Study details

• Evidence strengthLow

Read the original

• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2788.2010.01262.x
• PubMed: 20202074
• Original source →

May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.

@article{lanfranchi2010-20202074,
  author  = {Lanfranchi, S. and Jerman, O. and Dal Pont, E. and Alberti, A. and Vianello, R.},
  title   = {{Executive function in adolescents with Down Syndrome}},
  journal = {Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR},
  year    = {2010},
  doi     = {10.1111/j.1365-2788.2010.01262.x},
  pmid    = {20202074},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2788.2010.01262.x}
}

Studies this one cites

Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.

• Learning and memory as a function of age in Down syndrome: a study using animal-based tasks Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry · 2005-03-01 · usefulness score 45/100 · Down syndrome and Alzheimer's

Later studies that cite this one

2 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.

• Cognitive deficits and associated neurological complications in individuals with Down's syndrome The Lancet. Neurology · 2010-06-01 · usefulness score 53/100 · Getting a diagnosis
• Cognitive Impairment, Neuroimaging, and Alzheimer Neuropathology in Mouse Models of Down Syndrome Current Alzheimer research · 2016-01-01 · usefulness score 37/100 · Down syndrome and Alzheimer's

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• Cognitive executive function in Down's syndrome The British journal of clinical psychology · 2006-03-01 · usefulness score 59/100
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• Executive dysfunction and its association with personality and behaviour changes in the development of Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down syndrome and mild to moderate learning disabilities The British journal of clinical psychology · 2008-03-01 · usefulness score 43/100
• Plasma NT1-tau and Aβ42correlate with age and cognitive function in two large Down syndrome cohorts Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2023-03-10 · usefulness score 49/100
• Association between frontal cortex oxidative damage and beta-amyloid as a function of age in Down syndrome Biochimica et biophysica acta · 2011-10-08 · usefulness score 47/100
• The joint association of obesity and physical activity on cognitive function in Down syndrome Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2025-10-16 · usefulness score 40/100

Also tagged “down”

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• VNTR-DAT1 and COMTVal158Met Genotypes Modulate Mental Flexibility and Adaptive Behavior Skills in Down Syndrome Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2016-10-17 · usefulness score 33/100 · Down syndrome and Alzheimer's
• Frameshift proteins in autosomal dominant forms of Alzheimer disease and other tauopathies Neurology · 2006-01-01 · usefulness score 39/100 · Down syndrome and Alzheimer's
• Glucose, memory, and aging The American journal of clinical nutrition · 1998-04-01 · usefulness score 40/100 · Down syndrome and Alzheimer's

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More on Down syndrome and Alzheimer's

• A review that covers this ground Function and regulation of Dyrk1A: towards understanding Down syndrome Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2009-08-14 · usefulness score 36/100
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