Memory Training Views

General Goods

By life, I mean things like normal activities, intellectual pursuits, games or events with friends (or by yourself, for that matter), and the like. A Cochrane review (of 24 trials over 37 years that had 2,229 subjects), found that there was “surprisingly little evidence ” supporting the use of cognitive training programs for memory improvement compared to other activities for people age 60 or older, with or without mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

The good news is that stimulating your brain for cognitive improvement really does make a difference, whether you use a professional (training) program or natural activities that stimulate the brain. A good deal of research has looked at the question of natural activities that improve or maintain cognitive abilities in older persons, and the results encourage us to be engaged in life, especially social activities. Research on involvement in religion suggests that it is primarily the social aspect that improves longevity. This is probably true for cognition and memory as well.

The authors defined cognitive training as i“an intervention providing structured practice on tasks relevant to aspects of cognitive functioning, such as memory, attention, language, or executive function.y” The settings can be group or individual. The interventions were categorized into cognitive domains such as memory, executive function, attention, and processing speed.

Klingberg launched a double-blind placebo-controlled study, published in 2002, of 14 children to examine the effects of computerized training on a group of children with ADHD, working with two Swedish computer game developers. This population, which typically exhibits shortcomings in working memory, was chosen with the idea that any improvements in working memory would be most easily detected in daily functioning. The subjects performed training five days a week for five weeks using a video game-like program that constantly adapted its level of difficulty to the user's performance. Following the training, the students' working memory had improved substantially and ADHD symptoms were reduced.[2] The research was later published in 2002 in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology.