Visual but not spatial working memory deficit in children with spina bifida

Twenty children with spina bifida and twenty controls were assessed on a battery of visuospatial working memory tests. Children with spina bifida performed as well as the control group in the visuospatial test and in the forward and backward versions of the Corsi test, but were impaired in the 'House Visual Span.' This test, designed in our lab, provides specific information regarding visual ability to discriminate between pictorial targets and lures, and requires specific visual processing of stimuli. These results are discussed in terms of working memory models and are viewed as supporting the distinction between the visual and spatial components of working memory.