Editing Working memory (section)

== Relationship with neural disorders ==
An impairment of working memory functioning is normally seen in several neural disorders:

===ADHD===
Several authors<ref>Barkley; Castellanos and Tannock; Pennington and Ozonoff; Schachar (according to the source)</ref> have proposed that symptoms of [[ADHD]] arise from a primary deficit in a specific executive function (EF) domain such as working memory, response inhibition or a more general weakness in executive control.<ref name="WillcuttDoyle2005">{{cite journal | vauthors = Willcutt EG, Doyle AE, Nigg JT, Faraone SV, Pennington BF | title = Validity of the executive function theory of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a meta-analytic review | journal = Biological Psychiatry | volume = 57 | issue = 11 | pages = 1336–1346 | date = June 2005 | pmid = 15950006 | doi = 10.1016/j.biopsych.2005.02.006 | s2cid = 9520878 }}</ref> A meta-analytical review cites several studies that found significant lower group results for ADHD in spatial and verbal working memory tasks, and in several other EF tasks. However, the authors concluded that EF weaknesses neither are necessary nor sufficient to cause all cases of ADHD.<ref name="WillcuttDoyle2005" />

Several [[neurotransmitters]], such as [[dopamine]] and [[glutamate]] may be involved in both ADHD and working memory. Both are associated with the [[frontal lobe|frontal]] brain, self-direction and self-regulation, but [[Causality|cause–effect]] have not been confirmed, so it is unclear whether working memory dysfunction leads to ADHD, or ADHD distractibility leads to poor functionality of working memory, or if there is some other connection.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kofler MJ, Rapport MD, Bolden J, Altro TA | title = Working Memory as a Core Deficit in ADHD: Preliminary Findings and Implications. | journal = The ADHD Report | date = December 2008 | volume = 16 | issue = 6 | pages = 8–14 | doi = 10.1521/adhd.2008.16.6.8 | url = http://guilfordjournals.com/doi/abs/10.1521/adhd.2008.16.6.8 | url-access = subscription }}</ref><ref name="Clark Blackwell 2007">{{cite journal | vauthors = Clark L, Blackwell AD, Aron AR, Turner DC, Dowson J, Robbins TW, Sahakian BJ | title = Association between response inhibition and working memory in adult ADHD: a link to right frontal cortex pathology? | journal = Biological Psychiatry | volume = 61 | issue = 12 | pages = 1395–1401 | date = June 2007 | pmid = 17046725 | doi = 10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.07.020 | s2cid = 21199314 }}</ref><ref name="Roodenrys Koloski 2001">{{cite journal| vauthors = Roodenrys S, Koloski N, Grainger J |year=2001|title=Working memory function in attention deficit hyperactivity disordered and reading disabled children|journal=British Journal of Developmental Psychology|volume=19|issue=3|pages=325–337|doi=10.1348/026151001166128|issn=0261-510X|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Parkinson's disease===
Patients with [[Parkinson's]] show signs of a reduced verbal function of working memory. They wanted to find if the reduction is due to a lack of ability to focus on relevant tasks, or a low amount of memory capacity. Twenty-one patients with Parkinson's were tested in comparison to the control group of 28 participants of the same age. The researchers found that both hypotheses were the reason working memory function is reduced which did not fully agree with their hypothesis that it is either one or the other.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lee EY, Cowan N, Vogel EK, Rolan T, Valle-Inclán F, Hackley SA | title = Visual working memory deficits in patients with Parkinson's disease are due to both reduced storage capacity and impaired ability to filter out irrelevant information | journal = Brain | volume = 133 | issue = 9 | pages = 2677–2689 | date = September 2010 | pmid = 20688815 | pmc = 2929336 | doi = 10.1093/brain/awq197 }}</ref>

===Alzheimer's disease===
As [[Alzheimer's disease]] becomes more serious, less working memory functions. In addition to deficits in [[episodic memory]], Alzheimer's disease is associated with impairments in visual short-term memory, assessed using delayed reproduction tasks.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zokaei N, Sillence A, Kienast A, Drew D, Plant O, Slavkova E, Manohar SG, Husain M | display-authors = 6 | title = Different patterns of short-term memory deficit in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and subjective cognitive impairment | journal = Cortex; A Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior | volume = 132 | pages = 41–50 | date = November 2020 | pmid = 32919108 | pmc = 7651994 | doi = 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.06.016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Liang Y, Pertzov Y, Nicholas JM, Henley SM, Crutch S, Woodward F, Leung K, Fox NC, Husain M | display-authors = 6 | title = Visual short-term memory binding deficit in familial Alzheimer's disease | journal = Cortex; A Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior | volume = 78 | pages = 150–164 | date = May 2016 | pmid = 27085491 | pmc = 4865502 | doi = 10.1016/j.cortex.2016.01.015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/7854_2019_103 |chapter=Working Memory in Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease |title=Processes of Visuospatial Attention and Working Memory |series=Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences |date=2019 |last1=Zokaei |first1=Nahid |last2=Husain |first2=Masud |volume=41 |pages=325–344 |pmid=31347008 |isbn=978-3-030-31025-7 }}</ref> These investigations point to a deficit in visual feature binding as an important component of the deficit in Alzheimer's disease. There is one study that focuses on the neural connections and fluidity of working memory in mice brains. Half of the mice were given an injection that mimicked the effects of Alzheimer's, and the other half were not. Then the mice were expected to go through a maze that is a task to test working memory. The study helps answer questions about how Alzheimer's can deteriorate the working memory and ultimately obliterate memory functions.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Liu T, Bai W, Yi H, Tan T, Wei J, Wang J, Tian X | title = Functional connectivity in a rat model of Alzheimer's disease during a working memory task | journal = Current Alzheimer Research | volume = 11 | issue = 10 | pages = 981–991 | date = December 2014 | pmid = 25387338 | doi = 10.2174/1567205011666141107125912 }}</ref>

===Huntington's disease===
A group of researchers hosted a study that researched the function and connectivity of working memory over a 30-month longitudinal experiment. It found that there were certain places in the brain where most connectivity was decreased in pre-[[Huntington disease]]d patients, in comparison to the control group that remained consistently functional.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Poudel GR, Stout JC, Domínguez DJ, Gray MA, Salmon L, Churchyard A, Chua P, Borowsky B, Egan GF, Georgiou-Karistianis N | display-authors = 6 | title = Functional changes during working memory in Huntington's disease: 30-month longitudinal data from the IMAGE-HD study | journal = Brain Structure & Function | volume = 220 | issue = 1 | pages = 501–512 | date = January 2015 | pmid = 24240602 | doi = 10.1007/s00429-013-0670-z | s2cid = 15385419 }}</ref>