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. 2014 Nov 24;9(11):e113111.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113111. eCollection 2014.

Age-related changes of adaptive and neuropsychological features in persons with Down Syndrome

Alessandro Ghezzo  1 , Stefano Salvioli  2 , Maria Caterina Solimando  3 , Alice Palmieri  3 , Chiara Chiostergi  4 , Maria Scurti  2 , Laura Lomartire  2 , Federica Bedetti  5 , Guido Cocchi  5 , Daniela Follo  6 , Emanuela Pipitone  7 , Paolo Rovatti  8 , Jessica Zamberletti  8 , Tiziano Gomiero  9 , Gastone Castellani  10 , Claudio Franceschi  11
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Age-related changes of adaptive and neuropsychological features in persons with Down Syndrome

Alessandro Ghezzo et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Down Syndrome (DS) is characterised by premature aging and an accelerated decline of cognitive functions in the vast majority of cases. As the life expectancy of DS persons is rapidly increasing, this decline is becoming a dramatic health problem. The aim of this study was to thoroughly evaluate a group of 67 non-demented persons with DS of different ages (11 to 66 years), from a neuropsychological, neuropsychiatric and psychomotor point of view in order to evaluate in a cross-sectional study the age-related adaptive and neuropsychological features, and to possibly identify early signs predictive of cognitive decline. The main finding of this study is that both neuropsychological functions and adaptive skills are lower in adult DS persons over 40 years old, compared to younger ones. In particular, language and short memory skills, frontal lobe functions, visuo-spatial abilities and adaptive behaviour appear to be the more affected domains. A growing deficit in verbal comprehension, along with social isolation, loss of interest and greater fatigue in daily tasks, are the main features found in older, non demented DS persons evaluated in our study. It is proposed that these signs can be alarm bells for incipient dementia, and that neuro-cognitive rehabilitation and psycho-pharmacological interventions must start as soon as the fourth decade (or even earlier) in DS persons, i.e. at an age where interventions can have the greatest efficacy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Correlations between DS language test (Semantic Fluency, Token Test) scores and age (expressed in years).
All the neuropsychological values are inversely correlated with the age. pFDR<0.05 significant, pFDR<0.01 highly significant. More details are reported in Table 3.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Correlations between DS Executive Functions test scores (Phonemic Fluency, Tower of London, FAB total scores) and age (expressed in years).
All the values are inversely correlated with the Age. pFDR<0.05 significant, pFDR<0.01 highly significant. More details are reported in Table 3 and Table 4.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Correlations between VOSP total score, Number Location and Cube Analysis Scores, and age (expressed in years).
All the values are inversely correlated with the age. pFDR = <0.05 significant, pFDR<0.01 highly significant. More details are reported in Tab le 5.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Correlations between Vineland sub-scales scores and age (expressed in years).
All the values are inversely correlated with the age. pFDR = <0.05 significant, pFDR<0.01 highly significant. More details are reported in Tab 6.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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