Serial position memory of boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Ten male patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and 10 age-matched controls were tested with the WISC-R and a memory test requiring recall of the serial positions of drawings of easily named objects. After statistically controlling for differences in IQ, the two groups did not differ in their ability to recall the most recently presented items. However, the DMD patients were severely impaired in remembering items presented early in the list. The DMD patients also performed poorly on the WISC-R subtests Digit Span and Arithmetic. This pattern of impairment is discussed in terms of possible verbal mediation and attentional deficits.