Abstract
Researchers have devoted considerable attention and resources to cognitive training, yet there have been few examinations of the relationship between individual differences in patterns of brain activity during the training task and training benefits on untrained tasks (i.e., transfer). While a predominant hypothesis suggests that training will transfer if there is training-induced plasticity in brain regions important for the untrained task, this theory lacks sufficient empirical support. To address this issue we investigated the relationship between individual differences in training-induced changes in brain activity during a cognitive training videogame, and whether those changes explained individual differences in the resulting changes in performance in untrained tasks. Forty-five young adults trained with a videogame that challenges working memory, attention, and motor control for 15 2-h sessions. Before and after training, all subjects received neuropsychological assessments targeting working memory, attention, and procedural learning to assess transfer. Subjects also underwent pre- and post-functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans while they played the training videogame to assess how these patterns of brain activity change in response to training. For regions implicated in working memory, such as the superior parietal lobe (SPL), individual differences in the post-minus-pre changes in activation predicted performance changes in an untrained working memory task. These findings suggest that training-induced plasticity in the functional representation of a training task may play a role in individual differences in transfer. Our data support and extend previous literature that has examined the association between training related cognitive changes and associated changes in underlying neural networks. We discuss the role of individual differences in brain function in training generalizability and make suggestions for future cognitive training research.
Highlights
Cognitive neuroscience has begun to explore the possibility of enhancing working memory through the use of videogamebased training products
IMPLICATIONS OF THE CURRENT STUDY The findings of our plasticity analysis demonstrate that changes in blood-oxygenationlevel dependent (BOLD) signal in the superior parietal lobe (SPL), postcentral gyrus (PCG), and precuneus, from pre- to post-training using a videogame with a working memory component, predict changes in performance in an untrained working memory task
Our findings extend this research by demonstrating that the changes in functional activation that occur during working memory training predict individual differences in changes in untrained working memory task performance
Summary
Cognitive neuroscience has begun to explore the possibility of enhancing working memory through the use of videogamebased training products. Several brain regions in the frontal and parietal cortices and striatum (caudate, putamen) are known to be involved in working memory, including the dorsal lateral pre-frontal cortex (Braver et al, 1997; D’Esposito et al, 2000; Funahashi, 2006), superior parietal lobe (SPL) and precuneus, (Cohen et al, 1997; Henson et al, 2000; Pessoa et al, 2002; Dahlin et al, 2008b; Koenigs et al, 2009), and caudate (Levy et al, 1997; Postle and D’Esposito, 1999, 2003; Bäckman et al, 2011). Previous research has demonstrated that individual differences in the volume of certain brain regions that are important for working memory and procedural learning, such as the striatum, predict learning
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