Abstract
The hypothesis that, by school age, children with early-treated phenylketonuria (PKU) have specific cognitive deficits in executive function skills was examined in 19 children with PKU and 19 age-, sex-, and IQ-matched control participants. Five tasks were used, three chosen to measure executive, or frontal-lobe, functions (problem-solving, working memory, and verbal fluency) and two as control measures (verbal memory and spatial perception). Children with PKU performed more poorly on the problem-solving task and on the verbal memory task, suggesting that cognitive impairments associated with PKU persist into the school-age years. In addition, cognitive performance among the children with PKU was found to be specific to the phenylalanine (phe) levels at the time of testing. The high-phe group performed consistently more poorly than the control group on four of the six measures of the problem-solving task and on the verbal memory task, whereas the low-phe group was comparable to the control group on all measures.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
