Neural Correlates of Working Memory Training: Evidence for Plasticity in Older Adults

AbstractBrain activity typically increases with increasing working memory (WM) load, regardless of age, before reaching an apparent ceiling. However, older adults exhibit greater brain activity and reach ceiling at lower loads than younger adults, possibly reflecting compensation at lower loads and dysfunction at higher loads. We hypothesized that WM training would bolster neural efficiency, such that the activation peak would shift towards higher memory loads after training. Pre-training, older adults showed greater recruitment of the WM network than younger adults across all loads, with decline at the highest load. Ten days of adaptive training on a verbal WM task improved performance and led to greater brain responsiveness at higher loads for both groups. For older adults the activation peak shifted rightward towards higher loads. Finally, training increased task-related functional connectivity in older adults, both within the WM network and between this task-positive network and the task-negative/default-mode network. These results provide new evidence for functional plasticity with training in older adults and identify a potential signature of improvement at the neural level.

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Does Strategic Memory Training Improve the Working Memory Performance of Younger and Older Adults?

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169.54.4.311 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 54 (4) ◽

pp. 311-320 ◽

Cited By ~ 66

Author(s):

Barbara Carretti ◽

Erika Borella ◽

Rossana De Beni

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Working Memory ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Memory Task ◽

Memory Training ◽

Control Groups ◽

Improved Performance ◽

Strategic Training ◽

Strategic Memory ◽

Experimental Group

Abstract. The paper examines the effect of strategic training on the performance of younger and older adults in an immediate list-recall and a working memory task. The experimental groups of younger and older adults received three sessions of memory training, teaching the use of mental images to improve the memorization of word lists. In contrast, the control groups were not instructed to use any particular strategy, but they were requested to carry out the memory exercises. The results showed that strategic training improved performance of both the younger and older experimental groups in the immediate list recall and in the working memory task. Of particular interest, the improvement in working memory performance of the older experimental group was comparable to that of the younger experimental group.

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Span, CRUNCH, and Beyond: Working Memory Capacity and the Aging Brain

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2009.21230 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 655-669 ◽

Cited By ~ 213

Author(s):

Nils J. Schneider-Garces ◽

Brian A. Gordon ◽

Carrie R. Brumback-Peltz ◽

Eunsam Shin ◽

Yukyung Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Working Memory ◽

Neural Circuits ◽

Memory Span ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Memory Search ◽

Brain Activation ◽

Aging Brain ◽

Younger Adults ◽

The Brain

Neuroimaging data emphasize that older adults often show greater extent of brain activation than younger adults for similar objective levels of difficulty. A possible interpretation of this finding is that older adults need to recruit neuronal resources at lower loads than younger adults, leaving no resources for higher loads, and thus leading to performance decrements [Compensation-Related Utilization of Neural Circuits Hypothesis; e.g., Reuter-Lorenz, P. A., & Cappell, K. A. Neurocognitive aging and the compensation hypothesis. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 177–182, 2008]. The Compensation-Related Utilization of Neural Circuits Hypothesis leads to the prediction that activation differences between younger and older adults should disappear when task difficulty is made subjectively comparable. In a Sternberg memory search task, this can be achieved by assessing brain activity as a function of load relative to the individual's memory span, which declines with age. Specifically, we hypothesized a nonlinear relationship between load and both performance and brain activity and predicted that asymptotes in the brain activation function should correlate with performance asymptotes (corresponding to working memory span). The results suggest that age differences in brain activation can be largely attributed to individual variations in working memory span. Interestingly, the brain activation data show a sigmoid relationship with load. Results are discussed in terms of Cowan's [Cowan, N. The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24, 87–114, 2001] model of working memory and theories of impaired inhibitory processes in aging.

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Neural correlates of working memory training: Evidence for plasticity in older adults

NeuroImage ◽

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116887 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 217 ◽

pp. 116887 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Alexandru D. Iordan ◽

Katherine A. Cooke ◽

Kyle D. Moored ◽

Benjamin Katz ◽

Martin Buschkuehl ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Working Memory ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Working Memory Training ◽

Memory Training

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Transfer Effects to a Multimodal Dual-Task after Working Memory Training and Associated Neural Correlates in Older Adults – A Pilot Study

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnhum.2017.00085 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Stephan Heinzel ◽

Jérôme Rimpel ◽

Christine Stelzel ◽

Michael A. Rapp

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Working Memory ◽

Pilot Study ◽

Dual Task ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Working Memory Training ◽

Memory Training ◽

Transfer Effects

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The Effects of Working Memory Training on Brain Activity

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci11020155 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 155

Author(s):

Edward Nęcka ◽

Aleksandra Gruszka ◽

Adam Hampshire ◽

Justyna Sarzyńska-Wawer ◽

Andreea-Elena Anicai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neural Network ◽

Working Memory ◽

Brain Activity ◽

High Accuracy ◽

Stop Signal Task ◽

Memory Training ◽

Control Group ◽

Parietal Lobes ◽

Improved Performance ◽

Back Task

This study aimed to investigate if two weeks of working memory (WM) training on a progressive N-back task can generate changes in the activity of the underlying WM neural network. Forty-six healthy volunteers (23 training and 23 controls) were asked to perform the N-back task during three fMRI scanning sessions: (1) before training, (2) after the half of training sessions, and (3) at the end. Between the scanning sessions, the experimental group underwent a 10-session training of working memory with the use of an adaptive version of the N-back task, while the control group did not train anything. The N-back task in the scanning sessions was relatively easy (n = 2) in order to ensure high accuracy and a lack of between-group differences at the behavioral level. Such training-induced differences in neural efficiency were expected. Behavioral analyses revealed improved performance of both groups on the N-back task. However, these improvements resulted from the test-retest effect, not the training outside scanner. Performance on the non-trained stop-signal task did not demonstrate any transfer effect. Imaging analysis showed changes in activation in several significant clusters, with overlapping regions of interest in the frontal and parietal lobes. However, patterns of between-session changes of activation did not show any effect of training. The only finding that can be linked with training consists in strengthening the correlation between task performance accuracy and activation of the parietal regions of the neural network subserving working memory (left superior parietal lobule and right supramarginal gyrus posterior). These results suggest that the effects of WM training consist in learning that, in order to ensure high accuracy in the criterion task, activation of the parietal regions implicated in working memory updating must rise.

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Repeated Working Memory Training Improves Task Performance and Neural Efficiency in Multiple Sclerosis Patients and Healthy Controls

Multiple Sclerosis International ◽

10.1155/2019/2657902 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2019 ◽

pp. 1-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Naiara Aguirre ◽

Álvaro Javier Cruz-Gómez ◽

Anna Miró-Padilla ◽

Elisenda Bueichekú ◽

Ricardo Broseta Torres ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Task Performance ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Memory Training ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Training Groups ◽

Frontoparietal Network ◽

Neural Efficiency ◽

Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Background/Objective. To explore the effectiveness of a specific working memory (WM) training program in MS patients and healthy controls (HC). Method. 29 MS patients and 29 matched HC were enrolled in the study. MS and HC were randomly split into two groups: nontraining groups (15HC/14 MS) and training groups (14 HC/15 MS). Training groups underwent adaptive n-back training (60 min/day; 4 days). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to monitor brain activity during n-back performance (conditions: 0-back, 2-back, and 3-back) at 3 time points: (1) baseline, (2) post-training (+7days), and (3) follow-up (+35days). Results. In post-training and follow-up fMRI sessions, trained groups (HC and MS patients) exhibited significant reaction time (RT) reductions and increases in Correct Responses (CRs) during 2-back and 3-back performance. This improvement of task performance was accompanied by a decrease in brain activation in the WM frontoparietal network. The two effects were significantly correlated. Conclusions. After WM training, both cognitively preserved MS patients and HC participants showed task performance improvement made possible by neuroplastic processes that enhanced neural efficiency.

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Resting‐State EEG Microstates Parallel Age‐Related Differences in Allocentric Spatial Working Memory Performance

Brain Topography ◽

10.1007/s10548-021-00835-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Adeline Jabès ◽

Giuliana Klencklen ◽

Paolo Ruggeri ◽

Christoph M. Michel ◽

Pamela Banta Lavenex ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Working Memory ◽

Resting State ◽

Cognitive Aging ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Age Related

AbstractAlterations of resting-state EEG microstates have been associated with various neurological disorders and behavioral states. Interestingly, age-related differences in EEG microstate organization have also been reported, and it has been suggested that resting-state EEG activity may predict cognitive capacities in healthy individuals across the lifespan. In this exploratory study, we performed a microstate analysis of resting-state brain activity and tested allocentric spatial working memory performance in healthy adult individuals: twenty 25–30-year-olds and twenty-five 64–75-year-olds. We found a lower spatial working memory performance in older adults, as well as age-related differences in the five EEG microstate maps A, B, C, C′ and D, but especially in microstate maps C and C′. These two maps have been linked to neuronal activity in the frontal and parietal brain regions which are associated with working memory and attention, cognitive functions that have been shown to be sensitive to aging. Older adults exhibited lower global explained variance and occurrence of maps C and C′. Moreover, although there was a higher probability to transition from any map towards maps C, C′ and D in young and older adults, this probability was lower in older adults. Finally, although age-related differences in resting-state EEG microstates paralleled differences in allocentric spatial working memory performance, we found no evidence that any individual or combination of resting-state EEG microstate parameter(s) could reliably predict individual spatial working memory performance. Whether the temporal dynamics of EEG microstates may be used to assess healthy cognitive aging from resting-state brain activity requires further investigation.

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Brain hemodynamic response in Examiner–Examinee dyads during spatial short-term memory task: an fNIRS study

Experimental Brain Research ◽

10.1007/s00221-021-06073-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Francesco Panico ◽

Stefania De Marco ◽

Laura Sagliano ◽

Francesca D’Olimpio ◽

Dario Grossi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Cognitive Processes ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Memory Task ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Short Term ◽

Term Memory ◽

The Real

AbstractThe Corsi Block-Tapping test (CBT) is a measure of spatial working memory (WM) in clinical practice, requiring an examinee to reproduce sequences of cubes tapped by an examiner. CBT implies complementary behaviors in the examiners and the examinees, as they have to attend a precise turn taking. Previous studies demonstrated that the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) is activated during CBT, but scarce evidence is available on the neural correlates of CBT in the real setting. We assessed PFC activity in dyads of examiner–examinee participants while completing the real version of CBT, during conditions of increasing and exceeding workload. This procedure allowed to investigate whether brain activity in the dyads is coordinated. Results in the examinees showed that PFC activity was higher when the workload approached or reached participants’ spatial WM span, and lower during workload conditions that were largely below or above their span. Interestingly, findings in the examiners paralleled the ones in the examinees, as examiners’ brain activity increased and decreased in a similar way as the examinees’ one. In the examiners, higher left-hemisphere activity was observed suggesting the likely activation of non-spatial WM processes. Data support a bell-shaped relationship between cognitive load and brain activity, and provide original insights on the cognitive processes activated in the examiner during CBT.

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