Transfer of training from one working memory task to another: behavioural and neural evidence
Open accessAbstract
N-back working memory (WM) tasks necessitate the maintenance and updating of dynamic rehearsal sets during performance. The delayed matching-to-sample (dMTS) task is another WM task, which in turn involves the encoding, maintenance, and retrieval of stimulus representations in sequential order. Because both n-back and dMTS engage WM function, we hypothesized that compared to a control task not taxing WM, training on the n-back task would be associated with better performance on dMTS by virtue of training a shared mental capacity. We tested this hypothesis by randomly assigning subjects (N = 43) to train on either the n-back (including 2-back and 3-back levels) or an active control task. Following training, dMTS was administered in the fMRI scanner. The n-back group performed marginally better than the active control group on dMTS. In addition, although the n-back group improved more on the less difficult 2-back level than the more difficult 3-back level across training sessions, it was improvement on the 3-back level that accounted for 21% of the variance in dMTS performance. For the control group, improvement in training across sessions was unrelated to dMTS performance. At the neural level, greater activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus, right posterior parietal cortex, and the cerebellum distinguished the n-back group from the control group in the maintenance phase of dMTS. Degree of improvement on the 3-back level across training sessions was correlated with activation in right lateral prefrontal and motor cortices in the maintenance phase of dMTS. Our results suggest that although n-back training is more likely to improve performance in easier blocks, it is improvement in more difficult blocks that is predictive of performance on a target task drawing on WM. In addition, the extent to which training on a task can transfer to another task is likely due to the engagement of shared cognitive capacities and underlying neural substrates-in this case WM.
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Transfer occurs mainly when training and transfer tasks activate overlapping brain regions.
“This is consistent with the idea that transfer occurs mainly when training and transfer tasks activate overlapping brain regions [26, 35–37].”
From Nearest transfer effects of working memory training: A comparison of two programs focused on working memory updating (2019) · cites this paper as [35]
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- Authors
- Beatty, E. L., Jobidon, M.-E., Bouak, F., Nakashima, A., Smith, I., Lam, Q., Blackler, K., Cheung, B., & Vartanian, O.
- Affiliations
- Defence Research and Development Canada (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Beatty, Erin L.
- Venue
- Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2015-06-02
- Volume
- 9
- Pages
- 86-86
- ISSN
- 1662-5137 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4451342
- OpenAlex
- W1586139427
- Cited by
- 37
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 5.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Association for Psychological Science
- Ministère de la Défense Nationale
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Keywords
- transfer of training, working memory, n-back task, delayed matching-to-sample, rehearsal, inferior frontal gyrus, posterior parietal cortex, cerebellum, prefrontal cortex, motor cortex, training difficulty
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