Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26333022›Full record

Trial reportPloS one2015

Enhancing Cognitive Abilities with Comprehensive Training: A Large, Online, Randomized, Active-Controlled Trial.

Joseph L Hardy, Rolf A Nelson, Moriah E Thomason, Daniel A Sternberg, Kiefer Katovich, Faraz Farzin, Michael Scanlon

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
72citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

72 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  14. Cognitive Training with Neurofeedback Using fNIRS Improves Cognitive Function in Older Adults.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
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12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Joseph L HardyDepartment of Research and Development, Lumos Labs, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
Rolf A NelsonDepartment of Psychology, Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Moriah E ThomasonMerrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States of America; Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.
Daniel A SternbergDepartment of Research and Development, Lumos Labs, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
Kiefer KatovichDepartment of Research and Development, Lumos Labs, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
Faraz FarzinDepartment of Research and Development, Lumos Labs, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
Michael ScanlonDepartment of Research and Development, Lumos Labs, San Francisco, California, United States of America.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundA variety of studies have demonstrated gains in cognitive ability following cognitive training interventions. However, other studies have not shown such gains, and questions remain regarding the efficacy of specific cognitive training interventions. Cognitive training research often involves programs made up of just one or a few exercises, targeting limited and specific cognitive endpoints. In addition, cognitive training studies typically involve small samples that may be insufficient for reliable measurement of change. Other studies have utilized training periods that were too short to generate reliable gains in cognitive performance.

methodsThe present study evaluated an online cognitive training program comprised of 49 exercises targeting a variety of cognitive capacities. The cognitive training program was compared to an active control condition in which participants completed crossword puzzles. All participants were recruited, trained, and tested online (N = 4,715 fully evaluable participants). Participants in both groups were instructed to complete one approximately 15-minute session at least 5 days per week for 10 weeks.

resultsParticipants randomly assigned to the treatment group improved significantly more on the primary outcome measure, an aggregate measure of neuropsychological performance, than did the active control group (Cohen's d effect size = 0.255; 95% confidence interval = [0.198, 0.312]). Treatment participants showed greater improvements than controls on speed of processing, short-term memory, working memory, problem solving, and fluid reasoning assessments. Participants in the treatment group also showed greater improvements on self-reported measures of cognitive functioning, particularly on those items related to concentration compared to the control group (Cohen's d = 0.249; 95% confidence interval = [0.191, 0.306]).

conclusionTaken together, these results indicate that a varied training program composed of a number of tasks targeted to different cognitive functions can show transfer to a wide range of untrained measures of cognitive performance.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT-02367898.

Indexed as

Practice, PsychologicalAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAttentionCognitionFemaleHumansInternetMaleMemory, Short-TermMiddle AgedNeuropsychological TestsProblem SolvingYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID26333022
PMCPMC4557999

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.