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

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Working memory is crucial for reasoning and learning.
• Previous studies show cognitive benefits from working memory training in adults and children.
• The long-term effects of intensive training in children remain less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate immediate and long-term effects of intensive visuospatial working memory training on cognitive performance in children.
• To assess the durability of cognitive improvements following training.

Main Methods:

• A 3-week daily visuospatial n-back task training intervention for 14 healthy males (10-16 years).
• A passive control group of 15 age-matched individuals.
• Cognitive performance assessed using auditory n-back, matrices, and Stroop tasks immediately and 2-6 months post-training.

Main Results:

• The training group showed significant immediate (2.5x) and long-term (4.7x) improvements in auditory n-back task performance compared to controls.
• Performance gains were more pronounced in children who showed greater improvement during training.
• No significant changes were observed in matrices or Stroop tasks.

Conclusions:

• Visuospatial working memory training effectively enhances performance in similar memory tasks, like the auditory n-back task, in children.
• The observed sustained improvement several months post-training validates the long-term effectiveness of working memory interventions.
• Training benefits appear specific to working memory capacity rather than general cognitive functions.