SynthesisBehavioral and brain functions : BBF2026
Cognitive training in neurological disorders: meta-analytic evidence for behavioral gains and neural correlates.
Synthesis in Behavioral and brain functions : BBF, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
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.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCognitive decline in neurological disorders substantially impairs daily functioning and quality of life, underscoring the need for effective non-pharmacological interventions. We aimed to quantify the behavioral benefits of cognitive training, characterize convergent patterns of task-related brain activation changes, and examine moderators of the neural responses underlying training effects.
methodsWe conducted a meta-analysis of 21 task-based neuroimaging studies. Behavioral outcomes were synthesized using multivariate meta-analysis, while neural changes were examined with seed-based d mapping (SDM) to identify spatially consistent activation differences between training and control groups. Moderator analyses evaluated training parameters, study designs, and participant characteristics, and brain–behavior associations were assessed to link regional activation changes with cognitive improvements.
resultsCognitive training produced a significant, moderate improvement in cognitive task performance (Hedges’ g = 0.451, 95% CI 0.207–0.696; p < .001). Neuroimaging meta-analysis showed increased task-evoked activation after training in the bilateral precuneus and the left precentral gyrus (L. PreCG) relative to controls. Only precuneus activation increases were associated with behavioral gains. Moderator analyses indicated reduced precuneus activation but increased L. PreCG activation during transfer relative to trained tasks, and reduced L. PreCG activation for adaptive versus fixed-difficulty training. Passive controls also showed stronger L. PreCG activation changes than active controls, whereas participant characteristics and training dose showed no significant effects.
conclusionsCognitive training improved cognitive task performance and was accompanied by a convergent activation signature centered on the bilateral precuneus and the L. PreCG in neurological disorders. Precuneus engagement tracked cognitive gains, highlighting it as a candidate neural marker of training-related plasticity in this population.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.