The impact of abacus training on working memory and underlying neural correlates in young adults

Abstract

Abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) activates the frontoparietal areas largely overlapping with the working memory (WM) network. Given the critical role of WM in cognition, how to improve WM capability has attracted intensive attention in past years. However, it is still unclear whether WM could be enhanced by AMC training. The current research thus explored the impact of AMC training on verbal and visuospatial WM, as well as the underlying neural basis. Participants were randomly assigned to an abacus group and a control group. Their verbal WM was evaluated by digit/letter memory span (DMS/LMS) tests, and visuospatial WM was assessed by a visuospatial n-back task. Neural activity during the n-back task was examined using functional MRI. Our results showed reliable improvements of both verbal and visuospatial WM in the abacus group after 20-day AMC training but not in the control. In addition, the n-back task-induced activations in the right frontoparietal circuitry and left occipitotemporal junction (OTJ) declined as a result of training. Notably, the decreases in activity were positively correlated with performance gains across trained participants. These results suggest AMC training not only improves calculating skills but also have the potential to promote individuals’ WM capabilities, which is associated with the functional plasticity of the common neural substrates.