A preliminary study of the effects of working memory training on brain function

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Working memory (WM) training shows promise for improving WM abilities in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
• However, its effectiveness for broader ADHD-related impairments remains debated.
• Understanding neural changes associated with WM training is crucial for optimizing ADHD treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate WM training-induced alterations in brain function in adolescents with ADHD.
• To determine if these neural changes correlate with improvements in cognitive and clinical ADHD symptoms.

Main Methods:

• 18 adolescents with ADHD underwent 25 sessions of Cogmed™ WM training.
• fMRI scans using a Sternberg WM task, neuropsychological tests, and symptom/impairment reports were collected pre- and post-training.
• Analyses compared ADHD participants to controls and examined correlations between neural and clinical outcomes.

Main Results:

• WM training improved WM performance, ADHD clinical functioning, and WM-related brain activity in frontal, parietal, and temporal regions.
• Increased activity in the left inferior frontal sulcus was observed across all task phases (Encoding, Maintenance, Retrieval).
• Symptom severity improvements positively correlated with activation gains in executive processing brain regions.

Conclusions:

• WM training positively impacts brain function and clinical symptoms in ADHD.
• Neural correlates of improvement varied depending on the specific ADHD symptom type.
• Targeting executive process-specific WM brain regions may enhance treatment outcomes in ADHD.