Comparing Load of Working Memory during Spontaneous and Active EEG in Children with Specific Learning Disorder

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 University of Shahid Beheshti, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

3 Associate Professor of Family Research Center of Shahid Beheshti University

Abstract

The goal of the present study is to compare working memory load during spontaneous EEG (Electroencephalogram) with task condition by monitoring theta power in frontal regions of brain, in children with specific learning disorder. Theta recording was done during eyes closed (EC), eyes opened (EO) and task (VCPT) conditions for 52 children with specific learning disorder aged between 7 to 12 years old (22= girls, 30= boys). The learning disorder diagnosis was done by means of stanford binet IQ test, and Persian Academic Achievement test. EEG data was collected and digitized by means of WinEEG software and analyzed in SPSS with paired samples t-test. The results showed significant differences between theta power in VCPT condition with both EC and EO conditions in Fz. This finding is consistent with finding about normal groups. Although working memory deficit is one of core cognitive deficits in this group, but still cognitive efforts happen for mental processing. Strong significance can shows a source for omission errors in this group, because high amplitude of frontal midline theta may happens with the entrance of irrelevant information in attentional pathways.

Keywords


جاویدنیا، س.، کامکاری، ک.، و موللی، گ. (1392). بررسی ویژگی­های روان‌سنجی نسخه نوین هوش­آزمای تهران- استنفورد بینه، در کودکان با تشخیص نارساخوانی. مجله مطالعات ناتوانی. 3(1)، 51-44.
رستمی، ر.، رستم کلایی، ن. ا.، خدابنده­لو، ی.، غلامعلی‌نژاد، ف.، و بانشی، ع. ر. (1395). طرح پژوهشی: انطباق، اعتباریابی و رواسازی مقدماتی آزمون­های پیشرفت تحصیلی وودکاک جانسون در دانش­آموزان شهر تهران. مجری: دانشکده روان‌شناسی و علوم تربیتی دانشگاه تهران.
شیری امین­لو، م.، کامکاری، ک.، و شکرزاده، ش. (1392). روایی همزمان نسخه نوین هوش­آزمای تهران- استنفورد- بینه و نسخه دوم مقیاس هوشی وکسلر کودکان. مجله تعلیم و تربیت استثنائی. 7، 61-50.
فرید، ف.، کامکاری، ک.، صفاری­نیا، م.، و افروز، س. (1393). مقایسه روایی تشخیصی نسخه نوین هوش­آزمای تهران  استنفورد بینه و نسخه چهارم مقیاس هوش وکسلر کودکان در ناتوانی یادگیری. مجله ناتوانی­های یادگیری. 4، 123-70.
 
Baddeley, A. (1992). Working memory. Science. 255(5044), 556–559.
Bae, G. Y., & Luck, S. J. (2018). Dissociable decoding of spatial attention and working memory from EEG oscillations and sustained potentials. Journal of Neuroscience. 38(2), 409-422.
Bender, W. (2004). Learning disabilities: Characteristics, identification and teaching strategies. Boston: Pearson.
Boyle, C., Boulet, S., Schieve, L., Cohen, R., Blumberg, S., Yeargin-Allsopp, M., Kogan, M. (2011). Trends in the prevalence of developmental disabilities in US children, 1997–2008. Journal of Pediatrics. 127(6), 1034–1042.
Gevins, A., Smith, M. E., Leong, H., McEvoy, L., Whitfield, S., Du, R., & Rush, G. (1998). Monitoring working memory load during computer-based tasks with EEG pattern recognition methods. Human Factors. 40(1), 79-91.
Jensen, O., & Tesche, C. D. (2002). Frontal theta activity in humans increases with memory load in a working memory task. European Journal of Neuroscience. 15(8), 1395-1399.
Landerl, K., Fussenegger, B., Moll, K., & Willburger, E. (2009). Dyslexia and dyscalculia: Two learning disorders with different cognitive profiles. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 103(3), 309-324.
Moll, K., Göbel, S. M., Gooch, D., Landerl, K., & Snowling, M. J. (2014). Cognitive risk factors for specific learning disorder: Processing speed, temporal processing, and working memory. Journal of Learning Disabilities. 49(3), 272-281.
Ogrim, G., Kropotov, J., & Hestad, K. (2012). The quantitative EEG theta/beta ratio in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and normal controls: sensitivity, specificity, and behavioral correlates. Psychiatry Research. 198(3), 482-488.
Onton, J., Delorme, A., & Makeig, S. (2005). Frontal midline EEG dynamics during working memory. Journal of Neuroimage. 27(2), 341-356.
Raghavachari, S., Kahana, M. J., Rizzuto, D. S., Caplan, J. B., Kirschen, M. P., Bourgeois, B., ... & Lisman, J. E. (2001). Gating of human theta oscillations by a working memory task. Journal of Neuroscience. 21(9), 3175-3183.

Sadock, B., Sadock, V., & Ruiz, P. (2017). Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer.

Sauseng, P., Griesmayr, B., Freunberger, R., & Klimesch, W. (2010). Control mechanisms in working memory: a possible function of EEG theta oscillations. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 34(7), 1015-1022.
Sauseng, P., Klimesch, W., Schabus, M., & Doppelmayr, M. (2005). Fronto-parietal EEG coherence in theta and upper alpha reflect central executive functions of working memory. International Journal of Psychophysiology. 57(2), 97-103.
Scheeringa, R., Petersson, K. M., Oostenveld, R., Norris, D. G., Hagoort, P., & Bastiaansen, M. C. (2009). Trial-by-trial coupling between EEG and BOLD identifies networks related to alpha and theta EEG power increases during working memory maintenance. Journal of Neuroimage. 44(3), 1224-1238.
Schrank, F., & Wendling, B. (2012). The Woodcock–Johnson III normative update: Tests of cognitive abilities and tests of achievement. In contemporary intellectual assessment. Itasca, IL: Riverside Publishing.
Stipacek, A., Grabner, R. H., Neuper, C., Fink, A., & Neubauer, A. C. (2003). Sensitivity of human EEG alpha band desynchronization to different working memory components and increasing levels of memory load. Neuroscience Letters. 353(3), 193-196.
Volume 10, Issue 4
February 2020
Pages 217-227
  • Receive Date: 19 February 2020
  • Accept Date: 19 February 2020
  • First Publish Date: 19 February 2020
  • Publish Date: 21 January 2020