Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 14, 2026
07:01
Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
Published on: September 20, 2020
Working memory training promotes general cognitive abilities in genetically heterogeneous mice.
Kenneth R Light1, Stefan Kolata, Christopher Wass
1Program in Behavioral Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
Current Biology : CB
|March 30, 2010
Summary
Working memory training enhanced mice's selective attention and cognitive performance. This improvement was reduced when selective attention demands were lowered, suggesting a causal link between working memory, attention, and general cognition.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Animal Behavior
Background:
- Working memory capacity and selective attention predict cognitive performance in humans and mice.
- Previous evidence for a causal link between working memory and cognitive performance has been largely correlational.
- General cognitive ability is analogous to human intelligence and can be estimated by aggregate performance on cognitive tasks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the causal relationship between working memory, selective attention, and general cognitive performance in mice.
- To determine if working memory training can enhance general cognitive abilities.
- To examine the role of selective attention demands in mediating the effects of working memory training.
Main Methods:
- Genetically heterogeneous mice were assessed on a battery of five learning tasks to estimate general cognitive abilities.
- Mice underwent working memory training.
- The impact of working memory training on selective attention and overall task performance was evaluated.
- Selective attention demands during training were manipulated to assess their influence on cognitive enhancement.
Main Results:
- Working memory training led to increased selective attention and improved aggregate performance on learning tasks in mice.
- The enhancement in general cognitive performance resulting from working memory training was diminished when selective attention demands were reduced.
- These findings suggest a causal relationship between working memory capacity, selective attention, and general cognitive performance.
Conclusions:
- Working memory efficacy and selective attention are causally related to general cognitive performance in animals.
- Behavioral strategies targeting working memory and selective attention may promote cognitive abilities.
- The observed mechanisms regulating cognitive performance are conserved across species, from humans to other animals.
