Working Memory Training Strategies and Their Influence on Changes in Brain Activity and White Matter

Abstract

In this study, we investigated whether different working memory training tasks influence brain activity and white matter changes. Thirteen participants were involved in our interventional study over a period of one month. During pre- and post-training, brain activity and structural integrity were measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging. The reading span task was used to measure working memory capacity in participants performing different strategies. Participants were classified into a training group (10 participants) and a control group (4 participants). The training group was further divided into the imagery strategy group and rehearsal strategy group. Only the imagery strategy group improved working memory capacity, showing significantly increased activation in the anterior cingulate cortex and fractional anisotropy adjacent to the right temporal gyrus. Consequently, adopting the appropriate strategy is important for improving working memory capacity as different strategies affect brain activity and white matter to different degrees.