Youths with autism and working memory

Abstract

Working memory (WM) is an executive function critical for academic and social behaviours, and is often impaired in those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Thus, understanding the neural underpinnings of WM deficits is important for adapted cognitive and social interventions in youth with ASD, as well as an improved understanding of the difficulties experienced by them. fMRI studies show that those with ASD do not reliably recruit the classic WM brain regions during WM task performance, and also do not modulate brain activity with increasing WM demands, an effect seen consistently in their typically developing peers. With higher resolution imaging techniques that permit investigation of specific frequencies of brain activation and connectivity (magnetoencephalography (MEG)), studies not only identified qualitative differences in the localisation and timing of WM-related brain regions but also atypical long-range connectivity between these regions that contribute crucially to memory, executive functions and social cognition processes.