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Increased prefrontal and parietal activity after training of working memory

Nature Neuroscience volume 7, pages 75–79 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Working memory capacity has traditionally been thought to be constant. Recent studies, however, suggest that working memory can be improved by training. In this study, we have investigated the changes in brain activity that are induced by working memory training. Two experiments were carried out in which healthy, adult human subjects practiced working memory tasks for 5 weeks. Brain activity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) before, during and after training. After training, brain activity that was related to working memory increased in the middle frontal gyrus and superior and inferior parietal cortices. The changes in cortical activity could be evidence of training-induced plasticity in the neural systems that underlie working memory.

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Figure 1: Working memory task carried out during scanning in Experiment 2.
Figure 2: Increase in brain activity after working memory training (Experiment 1).
Figure 3: The effect of working memory training on performance and signal change (Experiment 2).
Figure 4: Regions where brain activity correlated with increased working memory capacity (Experiment 2; Table 1).

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to J. Beckeman and D. Skoglund for programming and graphical design and M. Lindskog for the testing of control subjects. We would also like to thank J. Andersson for comments. This work was funded by The Swedish Research Foundation (Vetenskapsrådet), Frimurarna Barnahuset, Jeansson Stiftelse, Sällskapet Barnavård and Märta and Gunnar V. Philipsson's Stiftelse.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuropediatrics, Karolinska Institute, Astrid Lindgren's Children's Hospital Q2:07, Stockholm, 171 76, Sweden

    Pernille J Olesen, Helena Westerberg & Torkel Klingberg

Authors
  1. Pernille J Olesen
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  2. Helena Westerberg
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  3. Torkel Klingberg
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Correspondence to Pernille J Olesen.

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Competing interests

T.K. and H.W. own stock in Cogmed, the company that provided the software for training in Experiment 2. P.J.O does not have any competing interests.

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Olesen, P., Westerberg, H. & Klingberg, T. Increased prefrontal and parietal activity after training of working memory. Nat Neurosci 7, 75–79 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1165

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