Effects of fine motor tasks on working memory and executive functioning skills in individuals with autism spectrum disorder
Embargo Date
2027-02-17
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
Executive dysfunction is a well-documented impairment in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), affecting higher-order cognitive processes such as problem-solving, memory, attention, and planning. While cognitive remediation (CR) therapies have shown significant improvement of executive functioning (EF) skills in individuals with ASD, there is limited, but promising research on the role of tactile tasks in these interventions. This study examined the contribution of fine motor skills (FMS) to achievement on working memory (WM) tasks in a sample of neurotypical participants and participants diagnosed with ASD. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to measure hemodynamic activity in the prefrontal cortex of 21 participants aged 18 to 34 years, including eight diagnosed with ASD. Due to previous findings, indicating greater variation in oxy-Hb (HbO) levels in the cerebral cortex of ASD individuals (J. Li et al., 2016), this study hypothesized that average HbO levels in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) would increase in the FMS WM task compared to the visual WM task in both groups and that average HbO levels would significantly differ between neurotypical and ASD participants across both WM tasks. No significant differences were observed in Hb concentration levels in the prefrontal cortex between tasks or between groups. However, the results suggest factors beyond HbO levels, such as deoxy-hemoglobin (HbR) and total hemoglobin (HbT) levels play a role in prefrontal cortex activation and should be considered in fNIRS analysis. Although neurotypical participants scored a higher Total WM score and the ASD group improved their average WM score after the FMS tasks, these differences were not statistically significant. The lack of significant differences in task performance and Hb activation may be due to a ceiling effect, as most participants in both groups achieved perfect Total WM Scores, indicating the tasks were too easy to detect differences in neural activation. Overall, tactile tasks show a potential for enhancing EF in ASD, but further research is needed to refine task difficulty and explore their integration into CR therapies more effectively.
Description
2025