Working-memory training improved test performance alongside changes in brain signals
Healthy young adults performed better on several memory-related tasks after training, while brain measurements showed changes at rest and during testing.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
After an 8-week computerized training program, participants improved on several memory and cognitive-control tests compared with controls. Brain measurements also changed, including lower prefrontal activation during a task despite better performance. These results support changes in the measured tests and signals, but the abstract does not establish lasting or everyday cognitive benefits.
The abstract omits participant numbers, control-group activities, effect sizes and longer follow-up, limiting assessment of the size, specificity and durability of the reported effects.
What researchers found
Memory and cognitive-control test performance
Training versus control after the 8-week program; outcomes included updating, shifting and visuospatial and phonological memory tasks. Effect sizes were not reported.
What the tests covered
Researchers assessed updating, inhibition and switching, as well as visuospatial and phonological storage. The reported gains included updating and shifting and the storage tasks; the abstract does not identify a significant improvement in every tested domain.
Interpreting the brain measurements
Resting-state signals showed stronger functional connections between frontal regions. During a memory task, measured prefrontal activation fell while performance improved. The authors interpreted this pattern as greater neural efficiency; an everyday benefit was not assessed in the reported outcomes.
The original publication
Enhancing brain plasticity: Functional near-infrared spectroscopy evidence for computerized working memory training in healthy adults.
Gao Y, Fang P, Xing W et al.
Brain Res Bull · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 41265494
- Record checked
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