Working memory training mostly engages general-purpose large-scale networks for learning

Juha Salmi; Lars Nyberg; Matti Laine

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.03.019

Working memory training mostly engages general-purpose large-scale networks for learning

Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2018 Oct:93:108-122. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.03.019. Epub 2018 Mar 21.

Authors

Juha Salmi¹, Lars Nyberg², Matti Laine³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland. Electronic address: juha.salmitaival@abo.fi.
² Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; Department of Radiation Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
³ Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland; Turku Brain and Mind Center, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.

PMID: 29574197
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.03.019

Abstract

The present meta-analytic study examined brain activation changes following working memory (WM) training, a form of cognitive training that has attracted considerable interest. Comparisons with perceptual-motor (PM) learning revealed that WM training engages domain-general large-scale networks for learning encompassing the dorsal attention and salience networks, sensory areas, and striatum. Also the dynamics of the training-induced brain activation changes within these networks showed a high overlap between WM and PM training. The distinguishing feature for WM training was the consistent modulation of the dorso- and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC/VLPFC) activity. The strongest candidate for mediating transfer to similar untrained WM tasks was the frontostriatal system, showing higher striatal and VLPFC activations, and lower DLPFC activations after training. Modulation of transfer-related areas occurred mostly with longer training periods. Overall, our findings place WM training effects into a general perception-action cycle, where some modulations may depend on the specific cognitive demands of a training task.

Keywords: Brain imaging; Cognitive training; Executive function; Plasticity; Working memory; fMRI.

Publication types

Meta-Analysis
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Brain / diagnostic imaging*
Brain / physiology*
Executive Function / physiology
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Memory, Short-Term / physiology*
Neural Pathways / diagnostic imaging
Neural Pathways / physiology
Neuronal Plasticity / physiology
Practice, Psychological