Transfer of learning after updating training mediated by the striatum.
Process-specific training can improve performance on untrained tasks, but the magnitude of gain is variable and often there is no transfer at all. We demonstrate transfer to a 3-back test of working memory after 5 weeks of training in updating. The transfer effect was based on a joint training-related activity increase for the criterion (letter memory) and transfer tasks in a striatal region that also was recruited pretraining. No transfer was observed to a task that did not engage updating and striatal regions, and age-related striatal changes imposed constraints on transfer. These findings indicate that transfer can occur if the criterion and transfer tasks engage specific overlapping processing components and brain regions.
Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden. erika.dahlin@physiol.umu.se
Erika
E
Dahlin
Anna Stigsdotter
AS
Neely
Anne
A
Larsson
Lars
L
Bäckman
Lars
L
Nyberg
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008568:Memory; D013663:Teaching