Non-trained Working Memory Tasks Research Articles

Working memory training in post-stroke aphasia: Near and far transfer effects

PurposeIndividuals with aphasia (IWA) show various impairments in speech, language, and cognitive functions. Working memory (WM), a cognitive system that functions to hold and manipulate information in support of complex, goal-directed behaviors, is one of the impaired cognitive domains in aphasia. The present study intended to examine the effects of a WM training program on both memory and language performance in IWA. MethodThis quasi-experimental study with an active control group was performed on 25 people with mild or moderate Broca’s aphasia aged 29–61 years resulting from left hemisphere damage following ischemic stroke. Participants were assigned into two groups, including a training group (n = 13) and a control group (n = 12). The treatment and control groups received WM training and routine speech therapy, respectively. Two separate lists of WM tests, including one list for both pre-training assessment and training program and a second list for the post-training assessment, were used in this study. ResultsThe treatment group showed significant improvements in both trained and non-trained WM tasks (near transfer effect) and language performance (far transfer effect) compared to the control group. ConclusionGiven the good generalizability of the WM training program on both WM and language performance, WM training is suggested as part of the rehabilitation program in aphasia.

Practice makes imperfect: Working memory training can harm recognition memory performance

There is a great deal of debate concerning the benefits of working memory (WM) training and whether that training can transfer to other tasks. Although a consistent finding is that WM training programs elicit a short-term near-transfer effect (i.e., improvement in WM skills), results are inconsistent when considering persistence of such improvement and far transfer effects. In this study, we compared three groups of participants: a group that received WM training, a group that received training on how to use a mental imagery memory strategy, and a control group that received no training. Although the WM training group improved on the trained task, their posttraining performance on nontrained WM tasks did not differ from that of the other two groups. In addition, although the imagery training group's performance on a recognition memory task increased after training, the WM training group's performance on the task decreased after training. Participants' descriptions of the strategies they used to remember the studied items indicated that WM training may lead people to adopt memory strategies that are less effective for other types of memory tasks. These results indicate that WM training may have unintended consequences for other types of memory performance.

Improving working memory abilities in individuals with Down syndrome: a treatment case study.

Working memory (WM) skills of individuals with Down’s syndrome (DS) tend to be very poor compared to typically developing children of similar mental age. In particular, research has found that in individuals with DS visuo-spatial WM is better preserved than verbal WM. This study investigated whether it is possible to train short-term memory (STM) and WM abilities in individuals with DS. The cases of two teenage children are reported: EH, 17 years and 3 months, and AS, 15 years and 11 months. A school-based treatment targeting visuo-spatial WM was given to EH and AS for six weeks. Both prior to and after the treatment, they completed a set of assessments to measure WM abilities and their performance was compared with younger typically developing non-verbal mental age controls. The results showed that the trained participants improved their performance in some of the trained and non-trained WM tasks proposed, especially with regard to the tasks assessing visuo-spatial WM abilities. These findings are discussed on the basis of their theoretical, educational, and clinical implications.

Effect of working memory training on working memory, arithmetic and following instructions.

Mathematical ability is dependent on specific mathematical training but also associated with a range of cognitive factors, including working memory (WM) capacity. Previous studies have shown that WM training leads to improvement in non-trained WM tasks, but the results regarding transfer to mathematics are inconclusive. In the present study, 176 children with WM deficits, aged 7-15 years performed 5 weeks of WM training. During the training period, they were assessed five times with a test of complex WM (the Odd One Out), a test of remembering and following instructions and a test of arithmetic. The improvements were compared to the performance of a control group of 304 typically developing children aged 7-15 years who performed the same transfer tasks at the same time intervals, but without training. The training group improved significantly more than the control group on all three transfer tests (all p < 0.0001), after correction for baseline performance, age and sex. The effect size for mathematics was small and the effect sizes for the WM tasks were moderate to large. The transfer increased linearly with the amount of training time and correlated with the amount of improvement on the trained tasks. These results confirm previous findings of training-induced improvements in non-trained WM tasks including the ability to follow instructions, but extend previous findings by showing improvements also for arithmetic. This is encouraging regarding the potential role of cognitive training for education, but it is desirable to find paradigms that would enhance the effect of the training on mathematics. One of the future challenges for studying training effects is combining large sample sizes with high quality and compliance, to detect relevant but smaller effects of cognitive training.

Self-reported collision involvement associated with driving after alcohol use, cannabis use or both

Self-reported collision involvement associated with driving after alcohol use, cannabis use or both

Working Memory Training Improves Cognitive Function in VLBW Preschoolers

Preterm born children perform poorer than term peers on tests of attention and executive functions including working memory tests. Our aim was to evaluate if preterm born preschoolers with very low birth weight (VLBW) would benefit from a computerized working memory training program and if the training would have a generalizing effect on memory, learning, attention, behavior, and anxiety. A prospective intervention study with a stepped wedge design where 20 VLBW preschoolers aged 5 to 6 years participated. The children trained with the Cogmed JM program for 10 to 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week over a 5-week period. Extensive neuropsychological assessment and parental questionnaires regarding behavior and anxiety were performed before and 4 weeks after intervention. The children improved significantly on trained (mean Start Index 42.1 [SD 6.3]), mean Max Index 60.6 [SD 5.7]), and nontrained working memory tasks (Spatial Span backward; 2.3 [before] to 3.6 [after training] [confidence interval {CI} -2.2 to -0.4] and Spatial Span total score; 6.4-8.3 [CI -3.7 to -0.1]). A generalization effect was found on auditory attention (49.6-58.2 [CI -15.5 to -1.6]), phonological awareness (9.3-12.6 [CI -5.2 to -1.4]), visual (memory for faces 20.0-24.9 [CI -7.4 to -2.5]), as well as verbal memory (narrative memory; 12.9-17.5 [CI -7.1 to -2.0], and sentence repetition 15.7-17.7 [CI -3.3 to -0.7]). This study shows that VLBW preschoolers benefit from a computerized working memory training program. We speculate that such training before starting school may prevent or reduce cognitive problems that impact educational achievement.

Working-memory training improves developmental dyslexia in Chinese children.

Although plasticity in the neural system underlies working memory, and working memory can be improved by training, there is thus far no evidence that children with developmental dyslexia can benefit from working-memory training. In the present study, thirty dyslexic children aged 8–11 years were recruited from an elementary school in Wuhan, China. They received working-memory training, including training in visuospatial memory, verbal memory, and central executive tasks. The difficulty of the tasks was adjusted based on the performance of each subject, and the training sessions lasted 40 minutes per day, for 5 weeks. The results showed that working-memory training significantly enhanced performance on the nontrained working memory tasks such as the visuospatial, the verbal domains, and central executive tasks in children with developmental dyslexia. More importantly, the visual rhyming task and reading fluency task were also significantly improved by training. Progress on working memory measures was related to changes in reading skills. These experimental findings indicate that working memory is a pivotal factor in reading development among children with developmental dyslexia, and interventions to improve working memory may help dyslexic children to become more proficient in reading.

Working Memory Training Using Mental Calculation Impacts Regional Gray Matter of the Frontal and Parietal Regions

Training working memory (WM) improves performance on untrained cognitive tasks and alters functional activity. However, WM training's effects on gray matter morphology and a wide range of cognitive tasks are still unknown. We investigated this issue using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), various psychological measures, such as non-trained WM tasks and a creativity task, and intensive adaptive training of WM using mental calculations (IATWMMC), all of which are typical WM tasks. IATWMMC was associated with reduced regional gray matter volume in the bilateral fronto-parietal regions and the left superior temporal gyrus. It improved verbal letter span and complex arithmetic ability, but deteriorated creativity. These results confirm the training-induced plasticity in psychological mechanisms and the plasticity of gray matter structures in regions that have been assumed to be under strong genetic control.

Computerized Working Memory Training Improves Function in Adolescents Born at Extremely Low Birth Weight

To evaluate the effect of a computerized working memory training program on both trained and non-trained verbal aspects of working memory and executive and memory functions in extremely low birth weight (ELBW; <1000 g) infants. Sixteen ELBW infants and 19 term-born control subjects aged 14 to 15 years participated in the training program, and 11 adolescents were included as a non-intervention group. Extensive neuropsychological assessment was performed before and immediately after training and at a 6-month follow-up examination. Both training groups used the CogMed RM program at home 5 days a week for 5 weeks. Both groups improved significantly on trained and non-trained working memory tasks and on other memory tests indicating a generalizing effect. Working memory capacity was improved, and effects were maintained at the 6-month follow-up examination. There was no significant improvement in the non-intervention group at the 6-week follow-up examination. The computerized training program Cogmed RM was an effective intervention tool for improving memory and reducing core learning deficits in adolescents born at ELBW.

Intensive adaptive training of working memory enhances non-trained working memory and deactivates the default mode network during non-trained working memory tasks

Intensive adaptive training of working memory enhances non-trained working memory and deactivates the default mode network during non-trained working memory tasks