Abstract
Working memory (WM) deficit is considered the key cause of learning difficulties (LDs). Studies have shown that WM is plastic and thus can be improved through training. This positive effect is transferable to fluid intelligence and academic performance. This study investigated whether WM updating ability and academic performance in children with LDs could be improved through WM updating training and explored the effects of this training on the children’s brain activity. We used a running memory task lasting approximately 40 min per day for 28 days to train a group of 23 children with LDs (TLDs group). We also selected two control groups of 22 children with LDs (CLDs group) and 20 children without LDs (normal control [NC] group). The behavioral results of a pretest indicated that WM updating ability and academic performance in the TLDs and CLDs groups were significantly lower than those in the NC group before training. Compared with the CLDs group, the TLDs group exhibited significant performance improvement in a 2-back WM task, as well as in mathematical ability. Event-related potentials (ERPs) results suggested that the amplitudes of N160 (representative of visual recognition) and P300 (representative of updating processing, which is a valid index for updating WM) in the TLDs and CLDs groups were markedly lower than those in the NC group before training. In the TLDs group, these two components increased considerably after training, approaching levels similar to those in the NC group. The results of this study suggest that WM updating training can improve WM updating ability in children with LDs and the training effect can transfer to mathematical performance in such children. Furthermore, the participants’ brain activity levels can exhibit positive changes. This article provides experimental evidence that WM updating training could mitigate the symptoms of LDs to a certain degree.
Highlights
Learning difficulties (LDs) refer to deficiencies in an individual’s capacity to acquire the skills required for learning reading, writing and arithmetic to a level comparable to that of other people of similar age, education and intelligence
Training significantly improved the performance of the TLDs group (p < 0.001), comparable results were not observed in the CLDs or normal control (NC) groups
The results of the current study indicated that training can improve the working memory (WM) updating capability of children with learning difficulties (LDs), which agrees with the findings of Zhao et al (2011), who observed an increase in the average P300 amplitude in adults after 20 days of WM updating training
Summary
Learning difficulties (LDs) refer to deficiencies in an individual’s capacity to acquire the skills required for learning reading, writing and arithmetic to a level comparable to that of other people of similar age, education and intelligence. Numerous studies have indicated that WM capability is the most frequently impaired function in children with LDs (Gathercole et al, 2006; Maehler and Schuchardt, 2009; Pimperton and Nation, 2010; De Weerdt et al, 2013; Peng and Fuchs, 2014). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies based on neuroscience research have suggested that the connectivity of the frontoparietal network, which is responsible for storing and processing information, is weaker in people with LDs than in those without them (Rotzer et al, 2009; Koyama et al, 2013). ERP studies have indicated that the amplitudes of the P300 component which is representative of updating processing is considerably attenuated in people with LDs compared with those without them (Dainer et al, 1981; Taylor and Keenan, 1990)
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