Intensive Working Memory Training Produces Functional Changes in Large-scale Frontoparietal Networks

Abstract

Working memory is central to human cognition, and intensive cognitive training has been shown to expand working memory capacity in a given domain. It remains unknown, however, how the neural systems that support working memory are altered through intensive training to enable the expansion of working memory capacity. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure plasticity in activations associated with complex working memory before and after 20 days of training. Healthy young adults were randomly assigned to train on either a dual n-back working memory task or a demanding visuospatial attention task. Training resulted in substantial and task-specific expansion of dual n-back abilities accompanied by changes in the relationship between working memory load and activation. Training differentially affected activations in two large-scale fronto-parietal networks thought to underlie working memory: the executive control network and the dorsal attention network. Activations in both networks linearly scaled with working memory load before training, but training dissociated the role of the two networks and eliminated this relationship in the executive control network. Load-dependent functional connectivity both within and between these two networks increased following training, and the magnitudes of increased connectivity were positively correlated with improvements in task performance. These results provide insight into the adaptive neural systems that underlie large gains in working memory capacity through training.

Activation‐based association profiles differentiate network roles across cognitive loads

“…Thus, our finding that the DAN sharply increased its interaction with other networks under higher cognitive load (2‐back) compared with that under lower load (0‐back) is reasonable. It has also been reported that, in WM tests after intensive training, the DAN maintains active activation (correlated to performance) under higher load, whereas the FPN dissociates this relationship (Thompson et al, ).…”

“…show process-specific roles in WM. The FPN is in charge of information representation, rehearsal, and integration for higher and conceptual level cognition, whereas the DAN cooperates with stimulus perceptional regions (e.g., the visual cortex) and the FPN to guarantee directed information sustainment with high priority (Ptak, 2012 (Thompson et al, 2016).…”

“…Considering that activation strength (AS) usually reflects the extent to which a region is recruited in task execution (Berry, Sarter, & Lustig, 2017;Schweizer, Grahn, Hampshire, Mobbs, & Dalgleish, 2013; Thompson, Waskom, & Gabrieli, 2016), we proposed a framework to examine the relationship between network actions and behavioral performance, and particularly how interactions between networks are associated with WM performance. This was implemented by computing regional and network associations as well as shared associations with other regions to determine WM performance based on typical and semipartial correlations (Cohen, Cohen, West, & Aiken, 2003;Nimon, 2010).…”

N-back Versus Complex Span Working Memory Training

“…Another study by Kundu, Sutterer, Emrich, and Postle (2013) used EEG and TMS to demonstrate that transfer following WM training was supported by changes in task-related effective connectivity in frontoparietal and parieto-occipital networks that were engaged by the training and transfer tasks. While very few studies have examined changes in EEG measures due to training, there is a small body of work using fMRI that also suggests that training is associated with functional changes that have been localized to posterior parietal and prefrontal cortices (Beatty et al, 2015; Buschkuehl, Hernandez-Garcia, Jaeggi, Bernard, & Jonides, 2014; Salminen, Kuhn, Frensch, & Schubert, 2016; for an fNIRS study see, McKendrick et al 2014; Schneiders et al, 2011; Thompson, Waskom, & Gabrieli, 2016; Vartanian et al, 2013). While our results are consistent with this notion of fronto-parietal involvement in dual n-back training effects, it is worth noting that our frontal alpha results are present in slightly more anterior clusters of electrodes than are typically seen.…”

Resting‐state fMRI detects the effects of learning in short term: A visual search training study

“…Indeed, the study of brain-behavior relations broadens our understanding of cognitive training benefits such as improvements in cognitive abilities and their relationship with FC. In this regard, the modulation of rs-FC networks has been observed after sensory, motor, or cognitive training programs that produced changes in the connectivity between brain regions (e.g., Albert, Robertson, & Miall, 2009;Powers, Hevey, & Wallace, 2012;Takeuchi et al, 2013;Taubert, Lohmann, Margulies, Villringer, & Ragert, 2011;Thompson, Waskom, Gabrieli, & Alvarez, 2016;Ventura-Campos et al, 2013).…”