Objective Down syndrome (DS) is a population with known hippocampal impairment, with studies showing that individuals with DS display difficulties in spatial navigation and remembering arbitrary bindings. Recent research has also demonstrated the importance of the hippocampus for novel word learning. Based on these data, we aimed to determine whether individuals with DS show deficits in learning new labels and if they may benefit from encoding conditions thought to be less reliant on hippocampal function (i.e., through fast mapping). Method In the current study, we examine immediate, 5-minute, and 1-week delayed word-learning across two learning conditions (e.g., explicit encoding vs. fast mapping). These conditions were examined across group (twenty-six 3–5 year old typically developing children and twenty-six 11–28 year old individuals with DS with comparable verbal and nonverbal scores on the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test – second edition) and in reference to sleep quality. Results Both individuals with and without DS showed retention after a 1-week delay, and the current study found no benefit of the fast mapping condition in either group contrary to our expectations. Eye tracking data showed that preferential eye movements to target words were not present immediately but emerged after 1-week in both groups. Further, sleep measures collected via actigraphy did not relate to retention in either group. Conclusion This study presents novel data on long-term knowledge retention in reference to sleep patterns in DS and adds to a body of knowledge helping us to understand the processes of word learning in typical and atypically developing populations.

Recent studies have highlighted the dentate gyrus as a region of increased vulnerability in mouse models of Down syndrome (DS). It is unclear to what extent these findings are reflected in the memory profile of people with the condition. We developed a series of novel tasks to probe distinct medial temporal functions in children and young adults with DS, including object, spatial, and temporal order memory. Relative to mental age-matched controls (n = 45), individuals with DS (n = 28) were unimpaired on subtests involving short-term object or configural recall that was divorced from spatial or temporal contexts. By contrast, the DS group had difficulty recalling spatial locations when contextual information was salient and recalling the order in which objects were serially presented. Results are consistent with dysfunction of spatial and temporal contextual pattern separation abilities in individuals with DS, mediated by the hippocampus, including the dentate gyrus. Amidst increasing calls to bridge human and animal work, the memory profile demonstrated here in humans with DS is strikingly similar to that of the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS. The study highlights the trisynaptic circuit as a potentially fruitful intervention target to mitigate cognitive impairments associated with DS.

Across all ages, individuals with Down syndrome (DS) experience high rates of sleep problems as well as cognitive impairments. This study sought to investigate whether circadian rhythm disruption was also experienced by people with DS and whether this kind of sleep disorder may be correlated with cognitive performance. A cross-sectional study of 101 participants (58 with DS, 43 with typical development) included individuals in middle childhood (6–10 years old), adolescence (11–18 years old), and young adulthood (19–26 years old). Sleep and markers of circadian timing and robustness were calculated using actigraphy. Cognitive and behavioral data were gathered via a novel touchscreen battery (A-MAPTM, Arizona Memory Assessment for Preschoolers and Special Populations) and parent questionnaire. Results indicated that children and adolescents with DS slept the same amount as peers with typical development, but significant group differences were seen in phase timing. The circadian robustness markers, interdaily stability and intradaily variability of sleep-wake rhythms, were healthiest for children regardless of diagnostic group and worst for adults with DS. Amplitude of the 24-h activity profile was elevated for all individuals with DS. In analyses of the correlations between sleep quality, rhythms, and cognition in people with DS, interdaily stability was positively correlated with reaction time and negatively correlated with verbal and scene recall, a finding that indicates increased stability may paradoxically correlate with poorer cognitive outcomes. Further, we found no relations with sleep efficiency previously found in preschool and adult samples. Therefore, the current findings suggest that a thorough examination of sleep disorders in DS must take into account age as well as circadian robustness to better understand sleep-cognitive correlations in this group.

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