# name
Developmental Trajectories in Primary Schoolchildren Using n-back Task

# metadata.dc.description.abstract[].value
BACKGROUND: Neuropsychological instruments to assess cognitive
                trajectories during childhood in epidemiological studies are
                needed. This would improve neurodevelopment characterization in
                order to identify its potential determinants. We aimed to study
                whether repeated measures of n-back, a working memory task,
                detect developmental trajectories in schoolchildren during a
                1-year follow-up. METHODS: We administered the n-back task to
                2897 healthy children aged 7-11 years old from 39 schools in
                Barcelona (Spain). The task consisted of 2 levels of complexity
                or loads (2- and 3-back) and 2 different stimuli (numbers and
                words). Participants performed the task four times from January
                2012 to March 2013. To study the trajectories during the
                follow-up, we performed linear mixed-effects models including
                school, individual and age as random effects. RESULTS: We
                observed improvements related to age in n-back outcomes d', HRT
                and accuracy, as well as reduced cognitive growth at older ages
                in d' and HRT. Greater improvements in performance were observed
                at younger ages, in 2-back, in verbal rather than numerical
                stimuli and in girls compared to boys. Boys responded faster at
                baseline, while girls showed increased growth in 2-back numbers.
                Children with ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity
                Disorder) symptoms (15% of boys and 6% of girls) had a lower
                working memory at baseline, but they showed similar cognitive
                growth trajectories in numbers variants of the task, as compared
                to children without ADHD symptoms. However, the age-related
                improvement in response speed was not observed in children with
                ADHD symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in n-back outcomes reflected
                developmental trajectories in 1-year follow-up. The present
                results suggest that the repeated administration of this task
                can be used to study the factors that may alter the cognitive
                development during childhood.

# metadata.dc.relation.isformatof[].value
Reproducció del document publicat a:
                http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00716

# metadata.dc.source[].value
Articles publicats en revistes (ISGlobal)

# metadata.dc.title[].value
Developmental Trajectories in Primary Schoolchildren Using n-back Task