Association between salivary alpha-amylase and executive functioning in healthy children

• Enrique F. Maldonado ^[1] ; Mari Nislin ^[3] ; Laura Marín ^[2] ; Ana Martín-Escribano ^[2] ; Alfredo Enguix ^[2] ; Cristina López ^[1] ; Alba Magarín ^[1] ; Ana Álamo ^[1] ; Paula Ortíz ^[1] ; Marina Muñoz ^[1] ; Silvia García ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad de Málaga

     Universidad de Málaga

     Málaga, España

     
  2. [2] Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Victoria

     Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Victoria

     Málaga, España

     
  3. [3] The Education University of Hong Kong (China)

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• Localización: The Spanish Journal of Psychology, ISSN 1138-7416, Nº 22, 2019, págs. 1-9
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1017/sjp.2019.26
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• Resumen

  • The main aim of this study was to confirm the relationship between executive performance and salivary alpha-amylase (SAA) activity in a sample of 64 healthy children (39 boys), and compare it to the association of SAA output and salivary flow rate (SFR). Executive functioning was assessed via fluency, trail-making, rings and inhibition tasks from the Batería de Evaluación Neuropsicológica de la Función Ejecutiva en Niños [Battery of Neuropsychological Assessment for Executive Function in Children] (ENFEN), merged into an ENFEN total score. SAA activity, output, and SFR were measured at baseline, one minute before, and one minute after the end of a neuropsychological testing session. Our results confirmed a direct, linear and significant association between SAA activity and executive functioning, r(64) = .351, p < .05, and extended it to SAA output, r(64) =.431, p < .05. The mean level of SAA output was the best predictor of executive functioning (β = .431, p < .05) and explained 18.2 % of the variance in ENFEN total score. In sum, and compared to SAA activity, measuring SAA output may be a more precise and indirect marker to assess executive functioning in children.

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