Diminished time-based, but undiminished event-based, prospective memory among intellectually high-functioning adults...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Background:

• Prospective memory (PM) is crucial for daily functioning, involving remembering intended actions.
• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) research on PM and working memory has yielded inconsistent results.
• Previous studies suggest potential visual working memory impairments in ASD, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate prospective memory (PM) and working memory abilities in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
• To clarify whether working memory impairments in ASD involve storage or processing capacity deficits.
• To explore the relationship between PM and working memory in ASD.

Main Methods:

• Seventeen adults with ASD and 17 neurotypical controls completed event-based and time-based PM tasks, a self-report PM measure, and a working memory test battery.
• Working memory assessment included measures of visual and verbal storage capacity and processing ability.

Main Results:

• Participants with ASD reported lower PM skills and performed worse on time-based PM tasks.
• ASD was associated with diminished visual storage capacity and processing ability, but not verbal storage.
• Visual storage correlated with event-based PM in controls, while verbal storage correlated with event-based PM in ASD.

Conclusions:

• ASD involves selective deficits in time-based PM and visual working memory storage.
• Event-based PM in ASD may rely on compensatory strategies.
• Findings highlight specific cognitive challenges in ASD, particularly in temporal and visual-spatial working memory.