Adaptive task difficulty influences neural plasticity and transfer of training

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• The efficacy of cognitive training is debated, necessitating research into factors enhancing transfer of training gains.
• Adaptive task difficulty may promote efficient neural processing by balancing cognitive resource demand and supply.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of adaptive versus fixed task difficulty during working memory updating (WMU) training on behavioral and neural plasticity.
• To determine if adaptive difficulty enhances transfer of training to untrained cognitive tasks and influences brain activity.

Main Methods:

• Participants underwent 10 sessions of WMU training with either adaptively increasing or fixed task difficulty.
• Behavioral performance and brain activity were measured using fMRI before and after the training period.

Main Results:

• Adaptive training led to transfer to an untrained episodic memory task.
• Training improved performance on trained WMU tasks, with greater improvement linked to near transfer and changes in striatal and hippocampal activity.
• Adaptive training induced activation decreases in the striatum and hippocampus during the trained WMU task.

Conclusions:

• Incorporating adaptive task difficulty into cognitive training programs can broaden the transfer of training gains.
• Adaptive difficulty may maximize the efficiency of task-related brain activity and enhance overall cognitive function.