Working Memory Deficits can be Overcome: Impacts of Training and Medication on Working Memory in Children with ADHD

By Joni Holmes, Susan E. Gathercole *, M. Place, D. Dunning, K. Hilton, Julian G. Elliott. 2010

397 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This study evaluated the impact of two interventions—a training program and stimulant medication—on working memory (WM) function in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Twenty-five children aged between 8 and 11 years participated in training that taxed WM skills to the limit for a minimum of 20 days, and completed other assessments of WM and IQ before and after training, and with and without prescribed drug treatment. While medication significantly improved visuo-spatial memory performance, training led to substantial gains in all components of WM across untrained tasks. Training gains associated with the central executive persisted over a 6-month period. IQ scores were unaffected by either intervention. These findings indicate that the WM impairments in children with ADHD can be differentially ameliorated by training and by stimulant medication.

Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychiatry and Mental health

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c8934bd3b0d8825a2a9bb112653250956b3a2a67

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Citations in the corpus

Is working memory training effective? (2012, background): “Holmes et al. (2010), Kronenberger, Pisoni, Henning, Colson, and Hazzard (2011), and Mezzacappa and Buckner (2010) did not include a control group; thus, their transfer findings are confounded by repeated testing.”
Working memory training does not improve intelligence in healthy young adults (2012, background): “Holmes, Gathercole, and Dunning (2009) reported that IQ scores were unaffected by working memory training in children with ADHD, and Holmes et al. (2010) reportedno boost in IQperformance in childrenwith low workingmemory capacity.”
Cogmed working memory training: Does the evidence support the claims? (2012, background): “In studies respectively involving children with ADHD and low WM capacity, Holmes et al. (2010) and Holmes, Gathercole, and Dunning (2009) found no evidence of immediate transfer to a battery of novel reasoning and academic achievement tests (i.e. ).”
Executive function in the first three years of life: precursors, predictors and patterns (2016, background): “Working memory deficits can be overcome: Impacts of training and medication on working memory in children with ADHD.”
Activities and Programs That Improve Children’s Executive Functions (2012, background): “Two studies (Holmes et al., 2009, Holmes et al., 2010) have found that gains in working memory remained 6 months after training.”
Does working memory training work? The promise and challenges of enhancing cognition by training working memory (2011, background): “…some WM training studies again report training-related improvement (Jaeggi et al., 2008; Klingberg et al., 2005, 2002; Schmiedek et al., 2010), while others report insignificant gains (Chein & Morrison, 2010; Dahlin, Nyberg et al., 2008; Holmes et al., 2009, 2010; Thorell et al., 2009).”
Training attentional control and working memory - Is younger, better? (2012, methodology): “A number of studies (including several of those reporting strong transfer following training (Holmes et al., 2010; Kerns, MacSween, Wekken, & Gruppuso, 2010; Tamm et al., 2008; Zylowska et al., 2008)) do not include any control groups so have been excluded from this review.”
Working Memory Training for Children with Attention Problems or Hyperactivity: A School-Based Pilot Study (2010, neutral): “Holmes et al. (2010) compared the effects of cognitive training to stimulant medication on working memory deficits in children with ADHD.”
Does working memory training generalize (2010, background): “Thus, the most telling results are those of Holmes et al. (2009) and Holmes, Gathercole, and Dunning (2009).”