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Attempts to determine the cognitive benefits of adaptive working memory training in healthy adults has resulted in a polarized and stagnating field. Heterogeneous approaches and problematic methodological choices have contributed to the controversy. Structural neuroimaging has the potential to identify biological changes present after working memory training, which could go undetected by cognitive outcome tasks. In this study, 24 healthy community dwelling adults aged 18 - 40 years underwent structural magnetic resonance neuroimaging (MRI) before and after completing a 6-week n-back working memory training program. An active control group (n = 24) completed 6-weeks of processing speed training using the same computerized platform and neuroimaging protocol. Cortical surface area, thickness, and volume measurements were collected in a-priori regions of interest in the frontal and parietal lobes. Subcortical and total gray matter volumes were also measured. Group by time repeated measures Analyses of Variance (RM-ANOVAs) were conducted to identify changes in surface area, thickness, or volume measurements associated with training type over time. Null results were present across all neuroanatomical metrics after correction for multiple comparisons. Findings of this study, in concert with recently published investigations, support the idea that adaptive n-back working memory training is not an effective method for inducing neuroanatomical change. Further investigation into other forms of training may help advance the field., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The idea that individualized, computer-based cognitive training improves cognitive functioning in non-trained domains is highly contested. An understudied area is whether cognitive training improves one's own perception of cognitive and day-to-day functioning. Furthermore, no studies have compared working memory training to programs that train higher-level processes themselves, namely logic and planning, in improving perception of cognitive abilities. We investigated self-reported changes in: (a) cognitive errors relevant to daily life; (b) expectations regarding training; and (c) impact of training on daily life, in healthy older adults who completed working memory training or logic and planning training. Ninety-seven healthy older adults completed 8-weeks of computerized cognitive training that targeted either working memory or logic and planning. Findings were compared to a no-training control group. Participants reported fewer cognitive failures relevant to daily life after training compared to the no-training control group, with a greater reduction in errors reported by the logic and planning training group compared to the working memory training group. Trainees' perception of training efficacy decreased over time. Nonetheless, approximately half of the participants in both training groups endorsed "some improvement" or more in self-perceived day-to-day functioning at post-testing. These results support the conclusion that individualized computerized cognitive training may enhance subjective perceptions of change and that higher level cognitive training may confer additional benefits. Findings suggest that cognitive training can enhance cognitive self-efficacy in healthy seniors.

While behavioural trials of working memory (WM) training have received much attention in recent years, a lesser explored parallel approach is functional neuroimaging. A small literature has suggested a complex time course for functional activation pattern changes following WM training (i.e. not simply increasing or decreasing due to training); however, no study to date has examined such neuroplastic effects in both the training task (dual n-back) and the fluid intelligence transfer task to which the training is purported to transfer (Raven's Matrices). This study investigated neural correlates of WM training in healthy young adults randomized to six weeks of WM training, or an active control condition (processing speed training) with a pre- and post-training fMRI design. Results indicated significant reductions in activation for the WM trained group in key WM-task related areas for trained WM tasks after training compared to the processing speed active control group. The same pattern of training related decreases in activation for the WM trained group was not observed for the transfer task, which is consistent with null results for all cognitive outcomes of the present trial. The observed pattern of results suggests that repetitive practice with a complex task does indeed lead to neuroplastic processes that very likely represent the reduced demand for attentional control while sub-components of the task become more routinized with practice. We suggest that future research investigate neural correlates of WM training in populations for which WM itself is impaired and/or behavioural trials of WM training have returned more promising results., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Training of working memory as a method of increasing working memory capacity and fluid intelligence has received much attention in recent years. This burgeoning field remains highly controversial with empirically-backed disagreements at all levels of evidence, including individual studies, systematic reviews, and even meta-analyses. The current study investigated the effect of a randomized six week online working memory intervention on untrained cognitive abilities in a community-recruited sample of healthy young adults, in relation to both a processing speed training active control condition, as well as a no-contact control condition. Results of traditional null hypothesis significance testing, as well as Bayesian factor analyses, revealed support for the null hypothesis across all cognitive tests administered before and after training. Importantly, all three groups were similar at pre-training for a variety of individual variables purported to moderate transfer of training to fluid intelligence, including personality traits, motivation to train, and expectations of cognitive improvement from training. Because these results are consistent with experimental trials of equal or greater methodological rigor, we suggest that future research re-focus on: 1) other promising interventions known to increase memory performance in healthy young adults, and; 2) examining sub-populations or alternative populations in which working memory training may be efficacious.

Recent attention has focused on the benefits of cognitive training in healthy adults. Many commercial cognitive training programs are available given the attraction of not only bettering one's cognitive capacity, but also potentially preventing age-related declines, which is of particular interest to older adults. The issue of whether cognitive training can improve performance within cognitive domains not trained (i.e., far transfer) is controversial, with meta-analyses of cognitive training both supporting and falsifying this claim. More support is present for the near transfer (i.e., transfer in cognitive domain trained) of cognitive training; however, not in all studies. To date, no studies have compared working memory training to training higher-level processes themselves, namely logic and planning. We studied 97 healthy older adults above the age of 65. Healthy older adults completed either an 8-week web-based cognitive training program on working memory or logic and planning. An additional no-training control group completed two assessments 8-weeks apart. Participants were assessed on cognitive measures of near and far transfer, including working memory, planning, reasoning, processing speed, verbal fluency, cognitive flexibility, and creativity. Participants improved on the trained tasks from the first day to last day of training. Bayesian analyses demonstrated no near or far transfer effects after cognitive training. These results support the conclusion that performance-adaptive computerized cognitive training may not enhance cognition in healthy older adults. Our lack of findings could be due to a variety of reasons, including studying a cohort of healthy older adults that were performing near their cognitive ceiling, employing a training protocol that was not sufficient to produce a change, or that no true findings exist. Research suggests numerous study factors that can moderate the results. In addition, the role of psychological variables, such as expectations and motivation to train, are critical in understanding the effects of cognitive training.

Unlabelled: Enhancing cognitive ability is an attractive concept, particularly for middle-aged adults interested in maintaining cognitive functioning and preventing age-related declines. Computerized working memory training has been investigated as a safe method of cognitive enhancement in younger and older adults, although few studies have considered the potential impact of working memory training on middle-aged adults. This study investigated dual n-back working memory training in healthy adults aged 30-60. Fifty-seven adults completed measures of working memory, processing speed, and fluid intelligence before and after a 5-week web-based dual n-back or active control (processing speed) training program., Results: Repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance failed to identify improvements across the three cognitive composites, working memory, processing speed, and fluid intelligence, after training. Follow-up Bayesian analyses supported null findings for training effects for each individual composite. Findings suggest that dual n-back working memory training may not benefit working memory or fluid intelligence in healthy adults. Further investigation is necessary to clarify if other forms of working memory training may be beneficial, and what factors impact training-related benefits, should they occur, in this population.

Cognitive deficits are consistently demonstrated in individuals with schizophrenia. Cognitive training involves structured exercises prescribed and undertaken with the intention of enhancing cognitive abilities such as attention, memory, and problem solving. Thus, cognitive training represents a potentially promising intervention for enhancing cognitive abilities in schizophrenia. However, cognitive training programs are numerous and heterogeneous, hence, the generalizability of training related outcomes can be challenging to assess. This article will provide a brief overview of current literature on cognitive training and explore how knowledge of working memory training in healthy populations can potentially be applied to enhance cognitive functioning of individuals with schizophrenia.

Background: The ability to accurately judge facial expressions is important in social interactions. Individuals with bipolar disorder have been found to be impaired in emotion recognition; however, the specifics of the impairment are unclear. This study investigated whether facial emotion recognition difficulties in bipolar disorder reflect general cognitive, or emotion-specific, impairments. Impairment in the recognition of particular emotions and the role of processing speed in facial emotion recognition were also investigated., Methods: Clinically stable bipolar patients (n = 17) and healthy controls (n = 50) judged five facial expressions in two presentation types, time-limited and self-paced. An age recognition condition was used as an experimental control., Results: Bipolar patients' overall facial recognition ability was unimpaired. However, patients' specific ability to judge happy expressions under time constraints was impaired., Conclusions: Findings suggest a deficit in happy emotion recognition impacted by processing speed. Given the limited sample size, further investigation with a larger patient sample is warranted.