Everyday Memory in People with Down Syndrome.

Megan Davis,Edward Merrill,Zachary M Himmelberger,Trent Robinson,Frances Conners,Yingying Yang

doi:10.3390/brainsci11050551

Megan Davis, Edward Merrill + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11050551

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Abstract

Although memory functions in people with Down Syndrome (DS) have been studied extensively, how well people with DS remember things about everyday life is not well understood. In the current study, 31 adolescents/young adults with DS and 26 with intellectual disabilities (ID) of mixed etiology (not DS) participated. They completed an everyday memory questionnaire about personal facts and recent events (e.g., school name, breakfast). They also completed a standard laboratory task of verbal long-term memory (LTM) where they recalled a list of unrelated words over trials. Results did not indicate impaired everyday memory, but impaired verbal LTM, in people with DS relative to people with mixed ID. Furthermore, the laboratory verbal LTM task predicted everyday memory for both groups after taking into account mental age equivalent. Our research showed both an independence and a connection between everyday memory and the standard laboratory memory task and has important research and clinical implications.

Highlights

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability and is caused by all or part of an extra 21st chromosome
MA was significantly correlated with everyday memory for each group separately and for the entire sample
MA was correlated with verbal long-term memory (LTM) for the participants with intellectual disabilities (ID), but not for participants with Down Syndrome (DS)

Summary

Introduction

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability and is caused by all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. Memory is an important and diverse cognitive ability that has received a great deal of research attention in people with DS (for a review, see [1]). The current study examined everyday memory in people with DS. We use the term everyday memory to refer to an ability to remember relevant facts and episodes of one’s daily activities. In daily life, we need to remember semantic and factual information, such as a loved one’s birthday or the name of important people in our daily lives (e.g., teacher or employer).

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