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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 15, 2026

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment

Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment

Published on: September 20, 2020

Dopamine and training-related working-memory improvement.

Lars Bäckman¹, Lars Nyberg

¹Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institute and University of Stockholm, Gävlegatan 16, SE-113 30 Stockholm, Sweden.

Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews

|January 22, 2013

Summary

Dopamine (DA) plays a key role in working memory (WM) training and improvement. Research shows DA influences how well people benefit from WM interventions and transfer learning to new tasks.

Keywords:

Dopamine Genes PET Training Working memory fMRI

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Genetics

Background:

Dopamine (DA) is implicated in working memory (WM) functioning.
Working memory is trainable, and DA may be critical for benefiting from WM interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

To review recent work on the role of dopamine in working memory training and improvement.
To explore the neural and genetic mechanisms underlying training-related WM gains.

Main Methods:

Review of functional MRI (fMRI) studies showing increased striatal BOLD activity after WM training.
Analysis of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) research demonstrating DA release during WM updating post-training.
Examination of genetic studies linking specific DA-related gene alleles to enhanced WM training outcomes.

Main Results:

WM interventions, like updating training, increase striatal BOLD activity.
Increased striatal BOLD activity correlates with transfer of learning to untrained WM tasks.
PET studies show enhanced striatal DA release after WM training.
Individuals with advantageous DA-gene alleles show greater WM performance gains post-training.

Conclusions:

Dopamine is critically involved in working memory improvement through training.
DA modulates the ability to benefit from WM interventions and generalize learning.
Future research should investigate DA's role in WM training across different populations and cognitive processes.