Working memory is a temporary storage system under attentional control. It is believed to play a central role in online processing of complex cognitive information and may also play a role in social cognition and interpersonal interactions. Adolescents with a disorder on the autism spectrum display problems in precisely these domains. Social impairments, communication difficulties, and repetitive interests and activities are core domains of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and executive function problems are often seen throughout the spectrum. As the main cognitive theories of ASD, including the theory of mind deficit hypotheses, weak central coherence account, and the executive dysfunction theory, still fail to explain the broad spectrum of symptoms, a new perspective on the etiology of ASD is needed. Deficits in working memory are central to many theories of psychopathology, and are generally linked to frontal-lobe dysfunction. This article will review neuropsychological and (functional) brain imaging studies on working memory in adolescents with ASD. Although still disputed, it is concluded that within the working memory system specific problems of spatial working memory are often seen in adolescents with ASD. These problems increase when information is more complex and greater demands on working memory are made. Neuroimaging studies indicate a more global working memory processing or connectivity deficiency, rather than a focused deficit in the prefrontal cortex. More research is needed to relate these working memory difficulties and neuroimaging results in ASD to the behavioral difficulties as seen in individuals with a disorder on the autism spectrum.

Objectives: In this study, we will explore the effect of epilepsy-related factors such as: ‘type of epilepsy, ‘site and side of focus localisation’ and ‘age at onset’, as well as four seizure-related factors: ‘years with continuing seizures’, ‘seizure type’ and ‘seizure frequency’, and the treatment factor ‘adverse effects of the medication’, on memory impairment. Additionally, we explored whether these epilepsy factors are related to different aspects of memory, i.e. short-term recall vs long-term recall, learning, and verbal memory vs non-verbal memory. Material and methods: A total of 252 patients with epilepsy and subjective memory complaints were consecutively included from the three epilepsy centres in the Netherlands. To assess memory functions the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-r), and the Dutch version of the California Verbal Learning Test for verbal list learning, was administered. Results: A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) did not show statistically significant effects of the epilepsy factors on memory for the total study sample. For the patients with a unilateral epileptogenic focus in the temporal lobes, MANOVA showed statistically significant effects of lateralisation, with most impairment for patients with left temporal lobe epilepsy and, independently, seizure frequency and ‘years with seizures’. Conclusion: We may conclude that epilepsy-related dysfunctions in the temporal lobe are the dominant risk factor for developing memory problems, specifically verbal memory problems (verbal learning and problems consolidating verbal information), with more severe impairments with continuing seizures and when seizure frequency is high.