The Influence Of Working Memory Training To Behavior And Brain Neural Activity Using The Method Of Loci And N-back

Memory is one of the core elements of human cognition.Working memory(WM)is a memory system with limited capacity for temporary processing and storage of information.Working memory training is an effective way to improve individual cognitive performance.Previous experiments on working memory training mostly used a single computer refreshing task program,lacking comparative analysis with strategic memory training;mostly online training platforms,without manual supervision;many studies on working memory training are only behavioral results,and the investigation of the effects are few,lacking of research on brain neural activity and brain plasticity(ie whether training can promote changes in brain activity patterns).In this thesis,the classic N-back training method and the Loci Method are compared to explore the changes of behavior and brain neural activity before and after training.A total of 29 healthy subjects were enrolled in the study,and they were divided into three equal groups: the Loci Method group,N-back group and no-treatment control group.The grouping was based on the results of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale,which ensured that the three groups had similar distributions at age,gender,and initial cognitive level.The behavioral tasks before and after training: Raven's Progressive Matrices,working memory capacity test and auditory digit span;the fMRI scan tasks before and after training: N-back task,Stroop task,vocabulary memory task.The behavioral experiment mainly obtained behavioral data,and the fMRI experiment obtained the behavioral data and the brain image data during scanning.The Loci Method group was trained through space route features and adaptive vocabulary memory software.The N-back group was trained through the classic adaptive visual and auditory dual tasks.The control group did not receive training.The participants were trained for 30 minutes per day,5 days a week,continuous training for 4 weeks(20 days in total)corresponding memory training tasks.The repeated measurement analysis of variance 3 groups(groups)× 2(pre-post)was performed on the behavioral results of the six tasks before and after training.The behavioral data of the experimental analysis showed that the task with significant group × pre-and post-test interactions was the highest N-back capacity(F(2,56)= 5.24,p = 0.012).The imaging results were analyzed,the comparison of the three groups imaging pre-and post-imaging results,the main differencial brain regions of the N-back task were in the frontal,parietal,hippocampus,angular gyrus,middle temporal gyrus,and supplementary motor area;the Stroop task was in fronto-parietal area,middle occipital gyrus,lingual gyrus;the vocabulary memory is mainly in the frontal lobe,insula,and precuneus.In the activation change of each condition,except for the N-back task(4back,6back),the change of the Loci Method group is opposite to N-back group(activation reduced),and under other task conditions the change trends of two training groups was basically the same(activated enhanced),while the change of the control group and the training groups showed the opposite trends under most of the task conditions,and the activation change of the overall results was the result of the majority of the three groups of voting mechanisms.Select the peak points of the activated brain regions in each task and the brain regions with greater correlation in the ROI analysis.Under the N-back condition,the region with higher behavioral correlation with the BOLD signal is the left dorsolateral prefrontal,precentral gyrus,right inferior parietal angular gyrus,right superior occipital gyrus,right superior parietal lobule,right insula;under the Stroop task condition,the behavioral correct rate with higher behavioral correlation with the BOLD signal is left inferior parietal angular gyrus,right precentral gyrus,right inferior occipital gyrus,and right middle temporal gyrus.Under the vocabulary memory condition,the behavioral correct rate with higher behavioral correlation with the BOLD signal is left middle temporal gyrus,left middle frontal gyrus.This study shows that memory ability can be learned through acquired strategic memory training.The two training methods have a certain degree of cognitive level improvement,and N-Back task results are the best.The brain has plasticity,its nervous system changes before and after training.In different groups,there are activation changes,such as activation enhancement,activation weakening,and activation rearrangement.