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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 14, 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

Working memory training is associated with lower prefrontal cortex activation in a divergent thinking task.

O Vartanian¹, M-E Jobidon, F Bouak

¹Defence R&D Canada-Toronto, Canada; University of Toronto-Scarborough, Canada. oshin.vartanian@drdc-rddc.gc.ca

|January 30, 2013

Summary

Working memory (WM) training enhances cognitive abilities. This study found WM training improved WM capacity and fluid intelligence, leading to more efficient brain function during divergent thinking tasks.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Neuroplasticity

Background:

Working memory (WM) training is known to improve WM capacity and fluid intelligence.
Divergent thinking, crucial for creativity, relies on WM and fluid intelligence.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if WM training enhances divergent thinking performance and alters neural activity.
To test the hypothesis that WM training improves performance and neural function in the Alternate Uses Task (AUT).

Main Methods:

Administered the AUT using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) after WM training or a control task.
Compared brain activation patterns between the experimental (WM training) and control groups during the AUT.

Main Results:

The WM training group showed significant improvements in WM tasks and fluid intelligence.
No significant difference in AUT performance between groups, but the WM training group had lower activation in prefrontal regions.
Fluid intelligence gains mediated the effect of training on ventrolateral prefrontal cortex activation.

Conclusions:

WM training leads to neural efficiency in divergent thinking, indicated by reduced prefrontal activation.
This suggests WM training can optimize cognitive processes underlying creativity and problem-solving.