Abstract
The present study was carried out to examine physiological arousal modulation (heart activity and skin conductance, across baseline and cognitive tasks, in females with fragile X or Turner syndrome and a comparison group of females with neither syndrome. Relative to the comparison group, for whom a greater increase in skin conductance was associated with poor arithmetic performance and less risk taking behavior, females with fragile X displayed a minimal increase in heart activity that was nevertheless associated with poor performance on mental arithmetic. In contrast, no arousal-cognitive performance relationship emerged for the group with Turner syndrome. Taken together, our findings suggest that distinct profiles of arousal modulation might be associated with cognitive deficits in these syndrome populations.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 20-27 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2008 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgments This research was supported by NIH grants P30-HD003110-38S1, P30-HD40602-01, P50 NS35359 and RØ1 HD034061. Note that this manuscript is a report that extends and expands upon an earlier publication (Keysor, Mazzocco, McLe-od, & Hoehn-Saric, 2002; Developmental Psychobiology) in which we first reported atypical indices of arousal in females with fragile X or Turner syndrome at discrete time points that coincided or preceded cognitive tasks. In collaboration with Dr. Jane Roberts, we pursued additional meaningful information by examining modulation of arousal over time.
Keywords
- Arousal
- Cognition
- Fragile X syndrome
- Psychophysiology
- Turner syndrome