Effects of Working Memory Training on Cognition and Brain Plasticity

In recent years, working memory training has been recognized as an effective way to improve individual cognitive performance.Working memory training uses working memory span tasks, updating tasks, and other complex tasks which are carried out in computers progressively.Recent researches find that working memory training can improve working memory itself, fluid intelligence, inhibition, attention, reading and mathematics.Researches on brain plasticity found that working memory training weakens the activation in frontal and parietal regions, strengthens the activation of subcortical structures including corpus striatum and caudate nucleus, decreases grey matter, improves white matter connectivity, and changes dopamine receptor in caudate nucleus.More studies need to be carried out to revise research designs, research subjects and research methods, to check the effectiveness of working memory training, and to uncover its cognitive and neural mechanism.