SynthesisFrontiers in psychiatry2020
Review of the Neural Processes of Working Memory Training: Controlling the Impulse to Throw the Baby Out With the Bathwater.
Synthesis in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neuropsychological rehabilitation in executive deficits resulting from alcohol use disorder: systematic review of literature.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Cognitive training and remediation interventions for substance use disorders: a Delphi consensus study.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Pooled it
- Cognitive Training Effectiveness on Memory, Executive Functioning, and Processing Speed in Individuals With Substance Use Disorders: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Pooled it
- Shining Light into Adolescent HIV Neuroplasticity: A Study of the Prefrontal Cortex Using Functional Near Infrared Spectrometry.F1000Research · 2025Trial
- Change in Resting-State Functional Connectivity Following Working Memory Training in Individuals With Repetitive Negative Thinking.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Unraveling the Link Between n-Back Working Memory and Algebraic Ability in Adolescents: Correlations and Training Effects.PsyCh journal · 2025Article
- A randomized controlled trial of computerized cognitive training to improve working memory in individuals with elevated repetitive negative thinking: Behavioral and neural outcomes.Journal of mood and anxiety disorders · 2025Article
- Working Memory Performance Predicts, but Does Not Reduce, Cocaine and Cannabinoid Seeking in Adult Male Rats.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Understanding the roles of central and autonomic activity during sleep in the improvement of working memory and episodic memory.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- The Effects of Working Memory versus Adaptive Visual Search Control Training on Executive Cognitive Function.Journal of cognitive enhancement : towards the integration of theory and practice · 2022Article
- Individual differences in frontoparietal plasticity in humans.NPJ science of learning · 2022Article
- Individual predictors and electrophysiological signatures of working memory enhancement in aging.NeuroImage · 2022Article
- Maladaptive brain organization at 1 month into abstinence as an indicator for future relapse in patients with alcohol use disorder.The European journal of neuroscience · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSmartphone technology has enabled the creation of many working memory training (WMT) Apps, with those peer-reviewed described in a recent review. WMT claims to improve working memory, attention deficits, hyperactivity and fluid intelligence, in line with plasticity brain changes. Critics argue that WMT is unable to achieve "far-transfer"-the attainment of benefits to cognition from one taught context to another dissimilar context-associated with improved quality of life. However, brain changes after a course of WMT in frontoparietal and striatal circuits-that often occur prior to behavioral changes-may be a better indicator of far-transfer efficacy, especially to improve impulse control commonly dysregulated in those with addictive disorders, yet not commonly examined in WMT studies.
methodIn contrast to previous reviews, the aim here is to focus on the findings of brain imaging WMT training studies across various imaging modalities that use various paradigms, published
results35 brain imaging studies utilized fMRI, structural imaging (MRI, DTI), functional connectivity, EEG, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), cerebral perfusion, and neurogenetic analyses with tasks based on visuospatial and auditory working memory, dual and standard n-back. DISCUSSION: Evidence suggests that repeated WMT reduces brain activation in frontoparietal and striatal networks reflective of increased neural circuitry efficiency
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Registered trials
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.