Working Memory (WM) capacity has been linked to performance on a wide range of elementary and higher order cognitive tasks. Due to evidence suggesting that NeuroTracker speed thresholds are an indicator of the quality of high-level brain function, and because it is an adaptive task, the researchers selected NeuroTracker to investigate whether training could improve WM capacities. A further reason was to test a training approach with short intervention times for practical military implementations for the Canadian Armed Forces.

What Was Studied

41 soldiers in the Canadian Armed Forces volunteered for the study. First they were tested on three WM span tasks: word (verbal) span, matrix span, and visual span, establishing a baseline measure for each test. Participants were then distributed evenly into 3 groups based on demographic and cognitive factors. The experimental group performed 10 NeuroTracker Core sessions over a 2 week period, the active control group performed an adaptive dual n-back task over a 2 week period, and the passive control group had no activity over a 2 week period. At the end of the two weeks, the three WM span tests were retaken.

What Was Found

For the NeuroTracker group, speeds thresholds increased considerably over the 10 sessions, and training resulted in a significant pre-post increase in word span, matrix span, and visual span, with medium to large effect sizes. In contrast, for the active control, group training did not alter any of the WM span measures. Similarly, WM span measures did not alter for the passive control group.

Takeaways

The researchers concluded that a short amount of NeuroTracker training can benefit WM capacity in a military sample. Additionally, the consistent NeuroTracker improvements across each type of WM span reflect a primarily domain-general construct (a generality of WM capacity).

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Reference: Oshin Vartanian et al. ‘3D Multiple Object Tracking Boosts Working Memory Span: Implications for Cognitive Training in Military Populations’ Military Psychology, 28(5), 353-360, 2016.

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