Short- and long-term cognitive and electrophysiological effects of a brief working memory training in older adults: a pilot study

Background Working memory (WM) training in aging promotes an individual’s more flexible use of their resources. Conversely, WM training neural correlates have been rarely examined. In this pilot study, we aimed to assess both behavioral and neural correlates of WM training of trained and untrained (transfer effects) tasks in the short and long term. Methods With a double-blind, repeated-measures experimental design, 30 community-dwelling older adults (aged from 64 to 75) were randomly assigned to a training group (TG) or an active control group. Results For the trained task, behavioral data indicated an improved WM performance, and electrophysiological data showed a lateralized event-related potential activation after training and 6 months later (follow-up) in the TG only. Clear transfer effects (n-back task) maintained at the follow-up appeared only on the electrophysiological level. Conclusions These results suggest that WM training can represent a promising approach to sustain older adults’ cognitive functioning and to modulate cortical plasticity, inducing long-lasting left-lateralized activation.