Cognitive Training

This book brings together a cutting edge international team of contributors to critically review the current knowledge regarding the effectiveness of training interventions designed to improve cognitive functions in different target populations. There is substantial evidence that cognitive and physical training can improve cognitive performance, but these benefits seem to vary as a function of the type and the intensity of interventions and the way training-induced gains are measured and analyzed. This book further fulfills the need for clarification of the mechanisms underlying cognitive and neural changes occurring after training. This book offers a comprehensive overview of empirical findings and methodological approaches of cognitive training research in different cognitive domains (memory, executive functions, etc.), types of training (working memory training, video game training, physical training, etc.), age groups (from children to young and older adults), target populations (children with developmental disorders, aging workers, MCI patients etc.), settings (laboratory-based studies, applied studies in clinical and educational settings), and methodological approaches (behavioral studies, neuroscientific studies). Chapters feature theoretical models that describe the mechanisms underlying training-induced cognitive and neural changes. Cognitive Training: An Overview of Features and Applications will be of interest to researchers, practitioners, students, and professors in the fields of psychology and neuroscience.

Cognitive and Working Memory Training assembles an interdisciplinary group of distinguished authors--all experts in the field--who have been testing the efficacy of cognitive and working memory training using a combination of behavioral, neuroimaging, meta-analytic, and computational modelling methods. This edited volume is a defining resource on the practicality and utility of the field of cognitive training research in general, and working memory training in particular. Importantly, one focus of the book is on the notion of transfer--namely, the extent to which cognitive training--be it through music, video-game play, or working memory demanding interventions at school--generalizes to learning and performance measures that were decidedly not part of the training regimen. As most cognitive scientists (and perhaps many casual observers) recognize, the notions of cognitive training and transfer have been widely controversial for many reasons, including disagreement over the reliability of outcomes and consensus on methodological "best practices," and even the ecological validity of laboratory-based tests. This collection does not resolve these debates of course; but its contribution is to address them directly by creating an exchange in a single compendium among scientists who, in separate research publications, do not always reach the same conclusions. The book is organized around comprehensive overview chapters from different disciplinary perspectives--Cognitive Psychology (by Hicks and Engle), Neuroscience (by Kuchinsky and Haarmann), and Development (by Ling and Diamond)--that define major issues, terms, and themes in the field, with a pointed set of challenge questions to which other scientists respond in subsequent chapters. The goal of this volume is to educate. It is designed for students and researchers, and perhaps the armchair psychologist. Crucially, the contributors recognize that it is good for science to persistently confront our understanding of an area: Debate and alternative viewpoints, backed by theory, data, and inferences drawn from the evidence, is what advances scientific knowledge. This book probes established paradigms in cognitive training research, and the long-form of these chapters (not found in scientific journals) allows detailed exploration of the current state of the science. Such breadth intends to invite novel ways of thinking about the nature of cognitive and perceptual plasticity, which may enlighten either new efforts at training, new inferences about prior results, or both.

Cognitive training is not always effective. This is also the case for the form of cognitive training that this Research Topic focuses on: prolonged performance on game-like cognitive tasks. The ultimate goal of this cognitive training is to improve ecologically-valid target functions. For example, cognitive training should help children with ADHD to stay focused at school, or help older adults to manage the complexity of daily life. However, so far this goal has proven too ambitious. Transfer from trained to non-trained tasks is not even guaranteed in a laboratory, so there is a strong need for understanding how, when and for how long cognitive training has effect. Which cognitive functions are amenable to game training, for whom, and how? Are there mediating factors for success, such as motivation, attention, or age? Are the improvements real, or can they be attributed to nonspecific factors, such as outcome expectancy or demand characteristics? Are there better strategies to improve cognitive functions through game training? This Research Topic of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience charts current insights in the determinants of success of game training.

Cognitive Foundations for Improving Mathematical Learning, Volume 5, the latest release in the Mathematical Cognition and Learning series, focuses on informal learning environments and other parental influences on numerical cognitive development and formal instructional interventions for improving mathematics learning and performance. Chapters cover the use of numerical play and games for improving foundational number knowledge, school math performance, the link between early math abilities and the approximate number system, and how families can help improve the early development of math skills. In addition, the book examines learning trajectories in early mathematics, the role of mathematical language in acquiring numeracy skills, evidence-based assessments of early math skills, approaches for intensifying early mathematics interventions, the use of analogies in mathematics instruction, schema-based diagrams for teaching ratios and proportions, the role of cognitive processes in treating mathematical learning difficulties, and more. Identifies the relative influence of school and family on math learning Discusses the efficacy of numerical play for improvement in math Features learning trajectories in math Examines the role of math language in numeracy skills Includes assessments of math skills Explores the role of cognition in treating math-based learning difficulties

Volume I, entitled “Augmentation of Brain Functions: Brain-Machine Interfaces”, is a collection of articles on neuroprosthetic technologies that utilize brain-machine interfaces (BMIs). BMIs strive to augment the brain by linking neural activity, recorded invasively or noninvasively, to external devices, such as arm prostheses, exoskeletons that enable bipedal walking, means of communication and technologies that augment attention. In addition to many practical applications, BMIs provide useful research tools for basic science. Several articles cover challenges and controversies in this rapidly developing field, such as ways to improve information transfer rate. BMIs can be applied to the awake state of the brain and to the sleep state, as well. BMIs can augment action planning and decision making. Importantly, BMI operations evoke brain plasticity, which can have long-lasting effects. Advanced neural decoding algorithms that utilize optimal feedback controllers are key to the BMI performance. BMI approach can be combined with the other augmentation methods; such systems are called hybrid BMIs. Overall, it appears that BMI will lead to many powerful and practical brain-augmenting technologies in the future.

Cognitive and Working Memory Training assembles an interdisciplinary group of distinguished authors--all experts in the field--who have been testing the efficacy of cognitive and working memory training using a combination of behavioral, neuroimaging, meta-analytic, and computational modelling methods. This edited volume is a defining resource on the practicality and utility of the field of cognitive training research in general, and working memory training in particular. Importantly, one focus of the book is on the notion of transfer--namely, the extent to which cognitive training--be it through music, video-game play, or working memory demanding interventions at school--generalizes to learning and performance measures that were decidedly not part of the training regimen. As most cognitive scientists (and perhaps many casual observers) recognize, the notions of cognitive training and transfer have been widely controversial for many reasons, including disagreement over the reliability of outcomes and consensus on methodological "best practices," and even the ecological validity of laboratory-based tests. This collection does not resolve these debates of course; but its contribution is to address them directly by creating an exchange in a single compendium among scientists who, in separate research publications, do not always reach the same conclusions. The book is organized around comprehensive overview chapters from different disciplinary perspectives--Cognitive Psychology (by Hicks and Engle), Neuroscience (by Kuchinsky and Haarmann), and Development (by Ling and Diamond)--that define major issues, terms, and themes in the field, with a pointed set of challenge questions to which other scientists respond in subsequent chapters. The goal of this volume is to educate. It is designed for students and researchers, and perhaps the armchair psychologist. Crucially, the contributors recognize that it is good for science to persistently confront our understanding of an area: Debate and alternative viewpoints, backed by theory, data, and inferences drawn from the evidence, is what advances scientific knowledge. This book probes established paradigms in cognitive training research, and the long-form of these chapters (not found in scientific journals) allows detailed exploration of the current state of the science. Such breadth intends to invite novel ways of thinking about the nature of cognitive and perceptual plasticity, which may enlighten either new efforts at training, new inferences about prior results, or both.

Presenting best practices for assessment and intervention with older adults experiencing cognitive decline, this book draws on cutting-edge research and extensive clinical experience. The authors' integrative approach skillfully interweaves neuropsychological and developmental knowledge. The volume provides guidelines for evaluating and differentiating among normal aging, subjective cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment, and different types of dementia. It identifies risk and protective factors that may influence an individual's trajectory and describes how to create a sound case conceptualization. Evidence-based strategies for pharmacological, cognitive, behavioral, and psychological intervention with patients and their caregivers are illustrated with vivid case examples.