Cognitive Difficulties – What is Happening in the Brain?
Written by Alissya Yuen
Edited by McKenna Ma
Jan 31, 2021
Edited by McKenna Ma
Jan 31, 2021
When you think of a cognitive difficulty and the effects it has on the brain, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Cognitive difficulties, such as learning difficulties, are not that uncommon and there are many students who struggle with a type of learning difficulty that requires additional support. For many years, researchers have had little success identifying specific areas of the brain affected by learning difficulties such as cognitive and/or behavioral problems. For instance, ADHD has been associated with many brain regions, such as the parietal lobe and prefrontal cortex. Researchers identified that the underlying cause of learning difficulties is that these are associated with poor connectivity of regions in the brain, instead of a specific brain region itself.
A study published by the University of Cambridge investigated this provoking question about the brain amongst children with learning differences. Researchers established that there are no specific brain areas or regions that cause these learning difficulties. Results showed that children who had brain hubs with strong connections had specific cognitive difficulties, such as poor listening skills or had no cognitive difficulties at all. They discovered that the brain is actually organized around hubs, like a social network or efficient traffic system. Children with poorly connected hubs had widespread and severe cognitive problems.
Most surprisingly, researchers found that these brain differences were not necessarily “mapped” in the brain. In other words, there were no specific brain regions that accurately predicted a child having ASD or ADHD. Brain regions did not indicate or predict any specific cognitive difficulties either. There was no singular brain deficit specific to problems focusing or remembering information. This discovery emphasized that it is not the specific brain region itself, but rather the connections between different brain regions. You can think of this connection like a train station connecting to multiple different cities. The severity of learning difficulties was strongly associated with the connection between the hubs, which only concludes that these brain hubs are playing a significant role in sharing information.
With this astonishing discovery, researchers emphasize the importance that families receive a proper diagnosis. Receiving a professional diagnosis is essential so families are better able to support their children or relatives by seeking the right type of treatment and familiarizing themselves with knowledge on how to support these cognitive difficulties. The University of Cambridge study may also explain why drug-based treatments have not been entirely effective for such developmental disorders. Drugs do not focus on the connectivity between brain regions, but by targeting these areas, better methods and drugs can be created.
Although developments in neuroscience are still improving, this study highlights a completely new understanding of the brain. With more research, hopefully in the future there are more treatment options and intervention methods that can better accommodate children’s learning difficulties. Now, when you think of learning difficulties, we know that instead of certain specific brain regions, the poor connections between these regions are primarily responsible.
Works Cited
University of Cambridge. "Learning difficulties due to poor connectivity, not specific brain regions." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 February 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200227114457.htm>.