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Brain Training – The Power of Working Memory

02.21.2009 · Posted in Career Articles

Like the mainspring in a clock, working memory provides the power for forward motion that keeps the brain ticking. Any shortfall or weakness in our working memory will have a serious impact on our cognitive ability. And, conversely, a particularly strong and effective working memory can supercharge our thinking skills.nnThe brain uses working memory to hold in mind several pieces of information at once. Working memory gets involved in every rational thought process whether we’re solving problems, taking in information, strategizing, reflecting, or deciding. But despite its critical role, working memory has a surprisingly small upper limit. In fact, most of us can store just 5 to 7 items in working memory at a time. (To demonstrate this have someone steadily recite a random sequence of numbers and see how many you can recall in the correct sequence.)nnThe difference between a poor working memory and an excellent working memory then will be just a few items in short term storage, but this difference has a huge impact on academic and workplace performance, and emotional stability. Children and young adults with below-average working memory capacity find it difficult to focus and follow directions. And studies have shown that working memory yields a more accurate prediction of academic success than does a person’s intelligence.nnTo demonstrate the impact on our emotional control, one study asked participants to decide whether they would eat a healthy salad or a piece of cake. Exerting rational control, the vast majority chose salad. But upon being asked to hold in mind several words as they made their choice, the majority instead chose cake. Taxing our working memory causes us to lose control of our emotional impulses.nnWith so much riding on this one facet of mental ability, it comes as a relief to discover that we can increase our working memory with just a short course of diligent training. Scientists from the Universities of Michigan and Bern designed a novel working memory training protocol to strengthen visual and aural working memory at the same time. Participant’s working memory scores rose by about sixty percent in less than 20 days, and the training also transferred to fluid intelligence (the target of the study) producing a forty percent increase there, too.nnBrain training for working memory must be intensive. The training works by stimulating plastic change in the brain. Training our working memory with a challenging and focused exercise causes the brain to generate new nerve cells, and the brain puts these cells to use in strengthening the very structures that support our working memory. (Neurogenesis, as this process is known, from working memory training has just been recorded using before and after brain scans by a team from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.)nnIf you’re interested in improving or optimizing your mental sharpness, working memory training will produce impressive long term benefits. And for the first time, these benefits are now available to anyone who desires them. Perhaps the most well-documented and effective working memory training available is the “dual n-back” exercise designed by the Michigan / Bern team. (I should point out in the interests of full disclosure that my company uses this particular protocol in our brain training program, Mind Sparke Brain Fitness Pro.)nnModest, little understood, but incredibly important, working memory helps us with everything from dialing a phone number to making an important life choice. Now, with a moderate investment of time and some worthwhile effort we can do all of those things a whole lot better.

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