Executive Functions and Attention Processes inIntellectual Disability_Zagaria T et al._Brain Sciences_2021

We made a comprehensive evaluation of executive functions (EFs) and attention processes in a group of adolescents and young adults with mild intellectual disability (ID). 27 adolescents and young adults (14 females and 13 males) with ID, aged between 15.1 and 23 years (M = 17.4; SD = 2.04), were compared to a control group free of cognitive problems and individually matched for gender and age. As for EFs, individuals with ID were severely impaired on all subtests of the Behavioral Assessment of Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS) battery. However, we also found appreciable individual differences, with eight individuals (approximately 30%) scoring within normal limits. On the attention tests, individuals with ID were not generally slower but presented specific deficits only on some attention tests (i.e., Choice Reaction Times, Color Naming and Color-Word Interference, and Shifting of Attention for Verbal and for Visual Targets).The role of a global factor (i.e., cognitive speed) was modest in contributing to the group differences; i.e., when present, group differences were selectively associated with specific task manipulations, not global differences in cognitive speed. The study confirmed large group differences in EFs; deficits in attentional processing were more specific and occurred primarily in tasks taxing the selective dimension of attention, with performance on intensive tasks almost entirely spared.本研究针对一组轻度智力障碍（intellectual disability，ID）青少年与青年群体的执行功能（executive functions，EFs）及注意加工过程开展了全面评估。本研究纳入27名轻度智力障碍受试者（女性14名、男性13名），年龄介于15.1至23岁之间（均值M=17.4，标准差SD=2.04），并与无认知问题、按性别与年龄进行个体匹配的对照组开展对比分析。就执行功能而言，轻度智力障碍群体在执行功能障碍行为评定成套测验（Behavioral Assessment of Dysexecutive Syndrome，BADS）的所有子测试中均表现出严重功能损伤。但本研究同时发现了显著的个体差异：8名受试者（约占总样本的30%）的测试得分处于正常范围之内。在注意测试中，轻度智力障碍群体总体上并未表现出反应迟缓，但仅在部分注意测试中出现特定的功能缺损，具体包括选择反应时（Choice Reaction Times）、颜色命名（Color Naming）、色词干扰（Color-Word Interference）任务，以及言语与视觉目标的注意转移任务。整体认知因素（即认知速度）对组间差异的贡献度较低；换言之，若存在组间差异，其也仅与特定的任务操作相关，而非认知速度层面的整体差异。本研究证实两组群体在执行功能上存在显著组间差异；注意加工的缺损则更为特定，主要出现在需要调用选择性注意维度的任务中，而高负荷任务上的表现几乎完全保留完好。