A Preliminary Examination Of The Impact Of Working Memory Training On Syntax And Processing Speed in Children With ASD Part 1

Abstract

In addition to deficits in pragmatics, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have weaknesses in complex syntax and working memory (WM). These two deficits may be closely related. Previous work investigated the effects of WM training in developmental language disorders and showed significant improvement in both WM and syntax. 

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disease in which patients often have symptoms such as social impairment, difficulty in language communication, and monotonous behavior and interests. However, autism does not necessarily affect a patient's memory.

According to research, some people with autism show good memory abilities in certain aspects. For example, excellent abilities in numbers, year names, graphics, and music memory. In addition, people with autism show unique memory characteristics, such as their ability to process and remember information in unconventional ways.

People with autism sometimes concentrate and show strong interest and concentration in certain things, which may be the reason why they have excellent memory abilities in some aspects. In addition, people with autism have a strong ability to observe details, which in some ways helps them remember detailed information.

Although people with autism may show different memory characteristics than ordinary people in some aspects, this does not mean that they are smarter than the average person. Although people with autism show excellent memory skills in some areas, they may still have difficulties in other areas. Therefore, we cannot judge a person's memory abilities simply because they have autism.

In summary, people with autism's memory abilities are related to their neurodevelopmental disorder, but they may perform better than the average person in some areas. No matter what, we should focus on the strengths of autistic people and provide appropriate support and care as much as possible to help them better realize their potential in life. It can be seen that we need to improve our memory. Cistanche deserticola can significantly improve memory because Cistanche deserticola is a traditional Chinese medicinal material with many unique effects, one of which is to improve memory. The efficacy of minced meat comes from the various active ingredients it contains, including acid, polysaccharides, flavonoids, etc. These ingredients can promote brain health in various ways.

Click know 10 ways to improve memory

The current study tests the impact of 12 h of WM training across 8 weeks in 30 children with ASD, aged 5 to 11. Results showed direct improvements on untrained WM tasks, as well as transfer effects to syntax and processing speed. Stronger WM led to better syntactic abilities. While they must be replicated, these exciting results provide the impetus for further studies of WM interventions.

Keywords

Autism spectrum disorder · Children · Working memory · Training · Syntax · Attention.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by persistent defects in social communication and social interaction, as well as restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities (DSM5, American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Language performance of children with ASD is highly variable, ranging from no language at all to fluent speech (Eigsti et al., 2011; Lim, 2018; Wan et al., 2011). 

Children with ASD present intellectual disabilities in 30–50% of cases (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016), but contrary to popular belief, their language performance is not necessarily dependent on their IQ level (Durrleman & Delage, 2016; Kjelgaard & Tager-Flusberg, 2001). Thus, children with a low IQ may have language skills in the normal range while others may have language deficits with a normal non-verbal IQ, as is typically the case of children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD).1 There is a consensus that pragmatic impairments are highly prevalent in individuals with ASD (Tager-Flusberg, 1996) and that these relate to core deficits in the theory of mind (Baron-Cohen et al., 1985; Khimi, 2014). 

However, other areas of language may also be impaired, such as phonology (Wolk et al, 2016), lexicon (Kjelgaard & Tager-Flusberg, 2001) and morphosyntax (Brynskov et al., 2017; Durrleman & Delage, 2016; Durrleman et al., 2016; Oi, 2008, 2010; Riches et al., 2010; Silleresi et al., 2018; Terzi et al., 2014; Tuller et al., 2017; Zebib et al., 2013). Some 60 to 70% of children with ASD perform similarly to children with DLD on tasks assessing lexicon (Kjelgaard & Tager-Flusberg, 2001), phonology (Zebib et al., 2013) and morphosyntax (Durrleman & Delage, 2016; Silleresi et al., 2018). 

These findings have been interpreted to suggest a comorbidity between ASD and DLD, sometimes attributed to a shared etiology and common risk genotype (Bishop, 2010; but see Williams et al., 2008). High co-morbidity between the two populations suggests that training that is effective in children with DLD could be equally beneficial in ASD, prompting the current study in which we train working memory (WM) in participants with ASD and observe transfer effects to complex syntax, as already demonstrated in children with DLD (Delage et al., 2020, 2021; Stanford et al., 2019).

Working Memory in ASD

Both ASD and DLD involve difficulties in executive functions (see McCrimmon et al., 2016 for ASD; Kapa & Plante, 2015, for DLD), particularly in WM. WM is defined as the temporary storage and manipulation of information needed to perform complex cognitive tasks related to learning, reasoning, and language processing (Baddeley, 2003). Although various WM models exist, such as Cowan (1999), Miyake et al. (2000), Engle (2002) or Barrouillet and Camos (2012), Baddeley’s tripartite, multi-component, model of WM remains highly influential in psycholinguistics. 

This model integrates an attentional control system, the central executive, and two subsystems: a phonological loop that stores and manipulates acoustic and verbal information, and a visuo-spatial sketchpad that stores and manipulates visual and spatial information.

The capacities of the phonological loop are assessed by simple-span verbal tasks (Barrouillet & Camos, 2007). These tasks require simple maintenance and recall of verbal information (e.g., forward digit span, word and nonword spans). Simple spans can be further subdivided into item and serial-order short-term memory (Majerus et al., 2006, 2009). Item memory refers to the storage of lexical items, including their semantic and phonological representations; serial refers to the order in which the items are presented. 

The capacities of the central executive are measured using complex-span tasks that typically add a dual or interfering task to a memory task, for example by asking participants to evaluate the truth value of a series of sentences, and then recall the final word in each sentence (Barrouillet & Camos, 2007). The backward digit span also belongs to this category (Redick & Lindsey, 2013), although whether it differs from the forward digit span remains controversial (St Clair-Thompson, 2010).

Both simple and complex-span tasks reveal WM deficits in ASD (Alloway et al., 2009, 2016; Bennetto et al., 1996; Eigsti, 2009; Gabig, 2008; Joseph et al., 2005; Schuh & Eigsti, 2012; Williams et al., 2006). Schuh and Eigsti (2012) found deficits in 18 English-speaking participants aged 9–17, with high-functioning ASD, in nonword repetition (simple span) as well as in listening recall tasks (complex span). 

In 21 French-speaking children and adolescents with ASD aged 5–16, Durrleman and Delage (2016) reported verbal WM impairment on both types of spans, on nonword repetition and forward as well as backward digit span. Despite occasional reports of preserved WM capacities in this population (see for example Alloway, 2018), a meta-analysis conducted by Habib et al. (2019) on 34 studies of children and adults with ASD (n = 226 in total) confirmed deficits in both verbal and visuospatial components of WM, where neither age nor IQ explained the observed WM differences. 

Another meta-analysis published by Wang et al. in (2017) reached the same conclusion, for both simple and complex spans. A meta-analysis that focused on more general executive functions in ASD (Demetriou et al., 2018) also pointed to a broad executive dysfunction in ASD, including WM deficits that were relatively stable across development.

Attentional Capacities in ASD

Although WM and attentional systems are conceptualized as distinct cognitive structures, they are closely related. An attentional component is included in all WM models (Baddeley, 2003; Barrouillet et al., 2004; Cowan, 1999); in Baddeley’s model, the central executive is an attentional controlling system that coordinates the more passive subsystems. Taking a developmental perspective, Garon et al. (2008) integrative framework model of executive functions includes a selective attention system that supports the further development of higher cognitive functions such as WM, inhibition, and shifting. 

In this model, selective attention is a lower-order skill that consists of focusing attention on relevant stimuli while ignoring distracting information. Selective attention is typically assessed by asking subjects to identify visual or auditory target stimuli under various distracter conditions, as in the Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch, Manly et al., 1999). Higher-order aspects of attention, such as attention shifting, are typically assessed by asking subjects to switch attention to new stimulus dimensions, such as color or shape, as in the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS, Frye et al., 1995).

Noterdaeme et al. (2001) compared the attention profiles of 19 participants with ASD (aged 7 to 21) to participants with DLD and typical development, matched for age, sex, and non-verbal IQ. Although both ASD and DLD groups showed impaired executive functions (inhibition and attention shifting), only the DLD group displayed additional defects in lower-order skills (sustained auditory attention and selective attention). 

In the same vein, Tye et al. (2014) compared children aged 8 to 13 with ASD and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with IQ in the average range, on a flanker-cued continuous performance task. They showed that children with ADHD displayed deficits in low-order skills, such as attentional orienting, whereas those with ASD showed deficits in conflict monitoring and response preparation. Studies of sustained attention in children with ASD have conflicting results, with some documenting deficits (e.g., Chien et al., 2014, 2015; Vivanti et al., 2017) and others not (e.g., Garretson et al., 1990; Johnson et al., 2007). These differences could be explained by the heterogeneity of participant ages and nonverbal cognitive functioning. 

In a review of attention, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility research in average-IQ children with ASD, Sanders et al. (2008) identified frequent defects in orienting attention, inhibition, and shifting, but typical capacities in sustained attention. 

A meta-analysis conducted by Demetriou et al. (2018) also confirms the deficit in executive functions in ASD, notably in mental flexibility. The current study measures the impact of these cognitive functions in ASD on linguistic abilities, and in particular how WM may impact syntax.

For more information:1950477648nn@gmail.com