One of the most prominent cognitive weaknesses in patients with ADHD appears to be visuospatial working memory (VSWM), including short-term memory (STM) and central executive (CE) function (35).
According to recent research, ADHD appears to be associated with marked impairments in working memory. In fact, the Journal of Abnormal Psychology cites that 62% to 85% of children with ADHD were found to have working memory deficits. These deficits also tended to persist over time.
Research has found that ADHD can negatively impact the working memory of adults with this disorder. Working memory is essential for completing daily activities, such as following and remembering instructions, organizing your schedule, or prioritizing activities. ADHDers commonly struggle with these tasks.
Background: Working memory impairments are commonly found in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and often improve with psychostimulant treatment.
Approximately 10% of us have weak working memory; however, the estimates of the percentage of weak working memory in students with specific learning disorders, including dyslexia, ranges from 20 to 50 percent. Weak working memory is a core difficulty for students with ADHD, Inattentive Type.
Having a high IQ with a lower working memory means that that child needs to learn the strategies that go with supporting the lower working memory. Now, the trick here is if his IQ is in the 90th percentile or above and his working memory is in the 75th percentile, his working memory is still way above average.
Smoking, exposure to air pollution, stress, poor diet, and lack of sleep and exercise increase your risk for memory loss. Having had a stroke or a traumatic brain injury or having heart disease or obesity also increase your risk. Sometimes what seems like a memory problem is really an attention problem.
One popular measure of working memory capacity is the operation span task, in which test participants are presented with a series of math problems followed by target words (for example, “12 × 8 = 96, WINE”). Participants must read the problem out loud, say whether it is true or false, and then read the target word.
Inattention: Difficulty paying attention, staying on task, or being organized. Hyperactivity: Excessive activity or restlessness, even at inappropriate times, and difficulty engaging in quiet activities. Impulsivity: Acting without thinking or having trouble with self-control.
In people with ADHD, these executive dysfunctions impact thinking in numerous ways. People with ADHD don't really think faster than people without it, but it can sometimes seem like they do. People with ADHD do think differently though, in a sense.
The Gift of ADHD: They say that adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have almost a sixth sense about people. My sharp sense of intuition is the one personal attribute that I've always been proud of. Since I was little I've been able to smell a two-faced person from a mile away.
Cavities – Those with ADHD are 12x more likely to live with tooth decay. As a result, they have more fillings, more extractions, and more missing teeth. Biting and Chewing – The symptoms of ADHD may lead to your child developing poor oral habits.
ADHD can make sticking to routines, including personal hygiene tasks like showering, brushing your teeth and doing laundry, a constant battle. The culprit behind this struggle often lies in the core challenges of ADHD: Executive Function difficulties. Difficulty staying focused on a single task.
There is no specific number of sleep hours needed. Each individual is different, and the amount of sleep can vary slightly from one person to another. Just like everyone else, people with ADHD generally require 7-9 hours of sleep per night for optimal health and daily functioning.
Similar to the literature, we found a strong relationship between the diagnosis of ADHD, a neurodevelopmental disorder, and nasal width and ear length. Moreover, the depth of the upper face was another measurement value that was strongly associated with the diagnosis of ADHD.
It's possible to have working memory problems without having ADHD. It's also possible (though rare) to have ADHD without any noticeable working memory problems. That said, researchers have identified strong links between ADHD and poor working memory.
While scientists have always argued that IQ is baked into our DNA at birth, new research is finding that certain aspects of intelligence are influenced by working memory, a cognitive skill that can be exercised. These findings suggest IQ is not really fixed — it can be improved if working memory can be improved.
Meta-analyses have found that working memory (WM) can be improved with cognitive training; however, some authors have suggested that these improvements are mostly driven by biases in the measurement of WM, especially the use of similar tasks for assessment and training.
Scientist and Nobel prize winner Albert Einstein is considered to have had ADHD because he “was as disorganised and forgetful as he was insightful and intelligent.” There is other evidence to suggest that he may have had dyslexia, dyspraxia and autism combined with ADHD.
There is significant overlap of characteristics among people with ADHD, high IQ, and creativity — like curiosity, impatience, high energy, low tolerance for boredom, charisma, nonconformity, risk-taking, and resistance to authority.
While not an official diagnosis, high functioning ADHD may describe individuals with ADHD symptoms that do not affect their daily activities. Symptoms may include difficulties with focus, time management, impulsivity, and more. These individuals may develop strategies to manage their symptoms.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder that can impact how the brain processes memory. People with ADHD might notice they forget daily tasks like appointments, schedules, and bringing lunch, for example. ADHD can also impact both working memory and long-term memory.
Effective working memory is essential for success in the workplace, but several factors can affect working memory, including information overload, distractions, stress, mental health, and time constraints.
The results indicate that the basic modular structure of working memory is present from 6 years of age and possibly earlier, with each component undergoing sizable expansion in functional capacity throughout the early and middle school years to adolescence.
