Working memory training shows immediate and long-term effects on cognitive performance in children

F1000Res. 2014 Apr 2:3:82. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.3665.2. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Working memory is important for mental reasoning and learning processes. Several studies in adults and school-age children have shown performance improvement in cognitive tests after working memory training. Our aim was to examine not only immediate but also long-term effects of intensive working memory training on cognitive performance tests in children. Fourteen healthy male subjects between 10 and 16 years trained a visuospatial n-back task over 3 weeks (30 min daily), while 15 individuals of the same age range served as a passive control group. Significant differences in immediate (after 3 weeks of training) and long-term effects (after 2-6 months) in an auditory n-back task were observed compared to controls (2.5 fold immediate and 4.7 fold long-term increase in the training group compared to the controls). The improvement was more pronounced in subjects who improved their performance during the training. Other cognitive functions (matrices test and Stroop task) did not change when comparing the training group to the control group. We conclude that visuospatial working memory training in children boosts performance in similar memory tasks such as the auditory n-back task. The sustained performance improvement several months after the training supports the effectiveness of the training.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the University Research Priority Program “Integrative Human Physiology”, University of Zurich, Switzerland to MW, OGJ and RH; the Anna Müller Grocholsky foundation, Switzerland to OGJ and RH; the Clinical Research Priority Program “Sleep and Health, University of Zurich, Switzerland to RH; and the Swiss National Science Foundation grant P00P3-135438 to RH.