ORAL AND INHALED GLUCOCORTICOIDS ASSOCIATED WITH SPECIFIC COGNITIVE DEFICITS IN ADULTS AND PREADOLESCENTS

The use of oral or inhaled corticosteroids (cort) among adults and preadolescents will be examined in respect to there, yet unknown, effects in specific cognitive deficits. A group of asthmatic children from Banner University Medical Center, between the ages of nine and ten, prescribed different severities of corticosteroids, as well as non-asthmatic children of the same age, will be tested using a neuropsychological battery, sub-tests, and the CG-Arena (tracking spatial orientation). The same tests will occur for asthmatic and non-asthmatic adults between the ages of eighteen and twenty. Test outcomes from each group of adults and preadolescents will be compared on the basis of psychological function using standard deviations in an effort to determine deficits in hippocampal and prefrontal cortex regions linked to the use of cort