Caregiver executive functions are associated with infant visual working memory.

Citation

Amaireh G, Caes L, Theyer A, Davidson C & Wijeakumar S (2024) Caregiver executive functions are associated with infant visual working memory.. Infant and Child Development, Art. No.: e2543.

Abstract
Caregiver executive functions (EFs) play an integral role in shaping cognitive development. Here, we investigated how caregiver EF abilities (86 caregivers; mean age = 33.4 years, SD = 4.5) was associated with visual working memory (VWM) in infants (86 infants females; mean age = 250.6 days, SD = 35.8). The BRIEF-A was used to assess caregiver EFs, and a preferential looking task along with fNIRS was used to assess VWM function in infants. Our findings revealed that better caregiver behavioral regulation was associated with better VWM performance, greater right-lateralized parietal activation, and left-lateralized frontal suppression, while better caregiver metacognition and emotional control was associated with greater right-lateralized temporal suppression in infants. Taken together, these associations suggest that better caregiver EF abilities might shape visuo-spatial attention and memory, guide fixation on task-relevant goals, and suppress distractions in children from as early as the first year of life.

Keywords
caregivers; executive functions; fNIRS; infants; visual working memory

Journal
Infant and Child Development