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Large UC study to investigate when and how brain training transfers (or does not) to broader cognitive and health benefits

July 16, 2020 by SharpBrains

Anja Pahor and Aaron Seitz

Nation­wide project seeks to under­stand how brain exer­cis­es pro­duce cog­ni­tive ben­e­fits (UC press release):

How does mem­o­ry train­ing lead to cog­ni­tive ben­e­fits? Aaron Seitz, direc­tor of the Brain Game Cen­ter for men­tal fit­ness and well-being at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, River­side, has wres­tled with this ques­tion for sev­er­al years.

Now he and Susanne Jaeg­gi, an asso­ciate pro­fes­sor at the UC Irvine School of Edu­ca­tion; and Anja Pahor, for­mer­ly a post­doc­tor­al researcher at UCR; are ready to address it by launch­ing a nation­wide project that seeks to engage 30,000 peo­ple in dif­fer­ent vari­ants of mem­o­ry train­ing through apps devel­oped by the Brain Game Center.

Results from the project can be trans­for­ma­tive toward under­stand­ing how cog­ni­tive skills can be trained and how peo­ple may vary in their propen­si­ties for such training.

Fund­ed by the Nation­al Insti­tute of Men­tal Health, the project aims to deter­mine for whom cer­tain train­ing meth­ods work best.

About the study:

Under­stand­ing Medi­at­ing and Mod­er­at­ing Fac­tors that Deter­mine Trans­fer of Work­ing Mem­o­ry Training

Seitz, Aaron R.; Jaeg­gi, Susanne Madlaina

  • Pub­lic Health Rel­e­vance: The pro­posed research is rel­e­vant to pub­lic health in that it will lead to greater under­stand­ing of, and cre­ation of more effec­tive, behav­ioral inter­ven­tions for those with cog­ni­tive impair­ments. This research is aligned with the NIMH RDoC frame­work as work­ing mem­o­ry deficits exist in a wide range of men­tal health con­di­tions, cas­es of dis­ease and brain dam­age, and are asso­ci­at­ed with age-relat­ed cog­ni­tive decline. Tar­get­ed train­ing to improve work­ing mem­o­ry has poten­tial to give rise to per­son­al­ized inter­ven­tions that can be used on an out­pa­tient basis. In addi­tion to align­ment with NIMH, this pro­posed research cuts across the bounds of numer­ous NIH agen­cies, with our frame­work con­tribut­ing to the mis­sions of the NCI, NEI, NIA, NIAAA, NINCD, NIDA, NINDS, in that all of these agen­cies work with pop­u­la­tions who can gain direct ben­e­fits from suc­cess­ful approach­es to men­tal fitness.

Par­tic­i­pa­tion in the study is free and requires a com­mit­ment of a few weeks. Par­tic­i­pants will play a mem­o­ry train­ing pro­gram, com­plete a few cog­ni­tive tests, and fill out brief ques­tion­naires anony­mous­ly. Data is down­loaded into a serv­er at UCR. Par­tic­i­pants can com­plete all ses­sions at home using their tablets or smart­phones. They may drop out at any time.

Each ses­sion lasts 20–30 min­utes. Par­tic­i­pants are asked to com­plete two ses­sions a day and at least 10 ses­sions a week. Prizes can be won at week­ly give­aways that will be host­ed by the Brain Game Cen­ter. Par­tic­i­pants have a chance to win an iPad in a month­ly giveaway.

To par­tic­i­pate in the project, peo­ple can sign up here, where addi­tion­al infor­ma­tion about the study can be found.

The Study in Context:

  • Solv­ing the Brain Fit­ness Puz­zle Is the Key to Self-Empow­ered Aging
  • Can brain train­ing work? Yes, if it meets these 5 conditions
  • Three quick brain teasers to exer­cise your work­ing memory
  • Why stress reg­u­la­tion and work­ing mem­o­ry are core build­ing blocks of life­long resilience
  • Study finds mixed results of Adder­all as cog­ni­tive enhancer (seems to boost emo­tion more than cognition)
  • 25 fun Brain Teasers and Puz­zles for teens and  adults of any age
  • What are cog­ni­tive abil­i­ties and how to boost them?

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Filed Under: Brain/ Mental Health, Education & Lifelong Learning, Technology & Innovation Tagged With: Brain Game Center, Brain-exercises, Brain-games, cognitive decline, cognitive-benefits, cognitive-skills, Memory-Training, mental-fitness, public-health, Working-memory, working-memory-training

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