title: The dynamics of change in striatal activity following updating training.
abstract: Increases in striatal activity have been suggested to mediate training-related improvements in working-memory ability. We investigated the temporal dynamics of changes in task-related brain activity following training of working memory. Participants in an experimental group and an active control group, trained on easier tasks of a constant difficulty in shorter sessions than the experimental group, were measured before, after about 1 week, and after more than 50 days of training. In the experimental group an initial increase of working-memory related activity in the functionally defined right striatum and anatomically defined right and left putamen was followed by decreases, resulting in an inverted u-shape function that relates activity to training over time. Activity increases in the striatum developed slower in the active control group, observed at the second posttest after more than 50 days of training. In the functionally defined left striatum, initial activity increases were maintained after more extensive training and the pattern was similar for the two groups. These results shed new light on the relation between activity in the striatum (especially the putamen) and the effects of working memory training, and illustrate the importance of multiple measurements for interpreting effects of training on regional brain activity.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of Experimental Psychology and Ghent Institute for Functional and Metabolic Imaging, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000 Gent, Belgium. simone.kuhn@ugent.be
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kühn
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schmiedek
authors.forename: Hannes
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Noack
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wenger
authors.forename: Nils C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Bodammer
authors.forename: Ulman
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lindenberger
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lövden
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D010100:Oxygen; D013997:Time Factors; D014163:Transfer, Psychology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen