Early deafness can reshape deprived auditory regions to enable the processing of signals from the remaining intact sensory modalities. Cross-modal activation has been observed in auditory regions during non-auditory tasks in early deaf subjects. In hearing subjects, visual working memory can evoke activation of the visual cortex, which further contributes to behavioural performance. In early de...

Previous studies have demonstrated that working memory for spatial location can be significantly disrupted by concurrent eye or limb movement (Baddeley, 1986; Smyth, Pearson, & Pendleton, 1988). Shifts in attention alone can also interfere with spatial span (Smyth & Scholey, 1994), even with no corresponding movement of the eyes or limbs (Smyth, 1996). What is not clear from these studies is ho...

Finding neurobiological markers for neurodevelopmental disorders, such as attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is a major objective of clinicians and neuroscientists. We examined if functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data from a few distinct visuospatial working memory (VSWM) tasks enables accurately detecting cases with ADHD. We tested 20 boys with ADHD combined type ...

Executive functions, including working memory and inhibition, are of central importance to much of human behavior. Interventions intended to improve executive functions might therefore serve an important purpose. Previous studies show that working memory can be improved by training, but it is unknown if this also holds for inhibition, and whether it is possible to train executive functions in p...

BACKGROUND 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2A (5-HT2A) participates in diverse psychiatric disorders by regulating the activity of serotonin. Some previous studies have also suggested that the receptor is involved in cognitive abilities of disease groups. We hypothesize that some functional genetic variants in 5-HT2A have certain specific influences on cognitive abilities in a normal population. ...

In order to create spatial plans in a complex and changing world, organisms need to rapidly adapt to novel configurations of obstacles that impede simple routes to goal acquisition. Some animals can mentally create successful multistep spatial plans in new visuo-spatial layouts that preclude direct, one-segment routes to goal acquisition. Lookahead multistep plans can, moreover, be fully develo...

Working memory (WM) skills of individuals with Down's syndrome (DS) tend to be very poor compared to typically developing children of similar mental age. In particular, research has found that in individuals with DS visuo-spatial WM is better preserved than verbal WM. This study investigated whether it is possible to train short-term memory (STM) and WM abilities in individuals with DS. The cas...

Mapping of the underlying neural mechanisms of visuo-spatial working memory (WM) has been shown to consistently elicit activity in right hemisphere dominant fronto-parietal networks. However to date, the bulk of neuroimaging literature has focused largely on the maintenance aspect of visuo-spatial WM, with a scarcity of research into the aspects of WM involving manipulation of information. Thus...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder hypothesized to involve impaired visuospatial working memory (VSWM). However, there are few studies utilizing neuropsychological tests to measure VSWM in ADHD adolescents. The Rey-Osterrieth complex figure test (ROCF) is commonly used as a neuropsychological test to assess visuospatial work...