Giving memory a lift: Can games and brain stimulation do it?
Giving memory a lift: Can games and brain stimulation do it?
Giving memory a lift: Can games and brain stimulation do it?
By Robby Berman
October 18, 2022
Summary
Prof. Gail Eskes explained working memory to Medical News Today, and why it is so important.
"Your working memory ability is important for all kinds of activities," said Prof. Eskes, "Such as reading a newspaper, doing math at a restaurant to figure out a tip, making decisions, and problem-solving."
Researchers from Dalhousie, the University of Trento in Italy, and Birmingham University in the United Kingdom contributed to the study, which found that cognitive training alongside transcranial direct current stimulation significantly strengthens working memory.
Dr. Jacqueline Becker, a clinical neuropsychologist and health services researcher at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine in New York, who was not involved in the study, told MNT that "With working memory training, the brain can rewire and reorganize itself as a result of repeated training and practice."
She explained how the two aspects of COGNISANT work together: "In our study, working memory training and brain stimulation target the same brain area - the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex - an area associated with processing spatial information."
"With our software, one can train using a range of information, like hearing and working with numbers or words, or seeing and working with items in space, or landscape images, etc," she told MNT. "This training software was designed to help any adult who wants to enhance their capacity or efficiency of their working memory. It can be done anywhere using a computer with access to the internet," she noted.
"Although characterized by huge variability, the older healthy adults are the more likely they are to show a lower working memory, and that is when the combination of working memory training and brain stimulation is more effective," she told us.
Reference
Berman, R. (2022, October 18). Giving memory a lift: Can games and brain stimulation do it? Retrieved October 25, 2022, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/giving-memory-a-lift-can-games-and-brain-stimulation-do-it