Nov 30, 2005 -- Early cognitive deficits in infancy -- including poorer attention, slower processing speed, and poorer recognition memory -- are important harbingers of later cognitive deficits, according to a recent study by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in the Bronx, N.Y., and the University of Ghent in Belgium. The researchers found that such early deficits fully accounted for lower cognitive scores of these children at ages 2 and 3. They report their findings in the November/December issue of the journal Child Development. Led by Susan A. Rose, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the research team set out to address two questions: What is the origin of the later cognitive deficits often found in children born prematurely, and is there a systematic progression whereby early deficits in more basic infant abilities (attention and speed of information processing) lead to deficits in more advanced ones (visual recognition memory and visual recognition of objects previously felt) which, in turn, influence the general cognitive ability of these children as toddlers? The researchers examined 200 children. One group was born prematurely, with birth weights of less than 3.9 pounds (1,750 grams), the other was full term. Researchers tested the children at 7 months and at 2 and 3 years. In addition to their finding that early deficits in preterm infants’ cognitive ability fully accounted for their lower scores at ages 2 and 3, the researchers also found a cascade of effects, in which speed of information processing influenced memory for objects seen and felt, which then influenced general cognitive ability. “The findings from this study imply that cognitive difficulties can be detected early –- in the first year of life –- and that these early difficulties have important implications for later development,” said Dr. Rose. “As such, the infant measures hold promise for early assessment of medical interventions designed to improve the long-term outcome of premature infants. They also hold promise for helping us learn more about the very nature of early cognitive abilities.”