Working Memory & Learning
Neuroscience of learning, ADHD & Autism | Victoria Harper | Neuroeducation Specialist
At first glance, many individuals with ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may appear highly capable, this might be seen as academically bright, articulate, or even gifted.
Yet these same individuals often struggle unexpectedly with tasks that require planning, flexible thinking, or abstract reasoning. This apparent paradox is frequently rooted in working memory impairments - a core issue in both ADHD and autism that profoundly affects schema formation.
Schemas are the mental frameworks we use to connect and interpret new information, forming the basis of learning, social navigation, and adaptive behaviour. Creating these schemas requires robust working memory, a function largely dependent on the prefrontal cortex, especially the dorsolateral and ventrolateral regions. These areas act as cognitive "air traffic controllers", temporarily holding and manipulating information to build meaning.
Functional Disruptions
In individuals with ADHD, fMRI studies show under activation in the prefrontal cortex and disrupted connectivity with the parietal lobes and default mode network (DMN), networks vital for sustaining attention and regulating thought flow (Martini et al., 2024; Wilson et al., 2021). As a result, these individuals may struggle to hold sequential information (e.g., sequential process steps, steps in a math problem or a timeline in history), causing fragmented schema development.
In autistic individuals, the disruption is often tied to atypical frontoparietal connectivity and reduced synchronisation across networks responsible for executive function and social cognition (Gotts et al., 2012; Guerra et al., 2024). Even when intellectual capacity is high, difficulties arise when trying to generalise a schema across settings or interpret shifting contextual cues, e.g., reading between the lines in workplace dialogue.
In the Real World
Consider a university student with ASD and no intellectual delay. They excel in structured coursework but collapse under open-ended tasks like preparing for a group presentation. They may understand their topic but struggle to filter what is most relevant, sequence their ideas, or adapt their explanation to a non-expert audience - hallmarks of schema generalisation breakdown.
Similarly, an employee with ADHD may contribute exceptional insights in brainstorming but miss deadlines due to poor sequencing of task steps. Despite having a clear idea of the goal, they cannot hold the interim mental checklist - working memory collapses under load.
Strategies That Work
When the brain's architecture doesn't automatically streamline schema-building, the environment must compensate. Tools such as visual prompts, structured templates, backward planning models, and practiced repetition reduce working memory demands and foster robust, transferrable understanding. Most importantly, by recognising that cognitive effort ≠ cognitive capacity, we begin to redesign systems that respect neurodivergent processing styles - empowering individuals to thrive not in spite of their brains, but because of them.