Dr. Paul White

Archive for the 'Working memory' Category

The Exciting Growing Field of Evidence-Based Cognitive Training

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

Would you like to:

  • remember better what you have read?
  • hold onto more information in your head?
  • be better at figuring out multiple-step math problems?
  • remember where you place items?
  • recall what you wanted to say earlier in a conversation?
  • not forget what to get from a room you just went into?
  • stay mentally focused better during conversations or lectures?
  • not be so easily distracted by noises and actions around you?

If so, then welcome to the field of cognitive training (or “brain training”, as it is called by the popular media.)

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a conference in Austin, Texas for a gathering of international experts (from the U.K., Sweden, Japan, Canada, and the U.S.) on one form of cognitive training — that which focuses on a core skill called working memory.

Working memory (as compared to short-term memory or long-term memory) is the ability to hold onto information while you are using it.  It is the combination of short-term memory and processing information.

So working memory is utilized when you:

  • read instructions for installing a new garbage disposal in your kitchen and you try to remember the first three steps.
  • are downstairs and make a list in your head of the things to remember to get from your basement.
  • are running errands and you have a list of places to remember where to stop.
  • try to figure out in your head what a 15-20% tip would be on a meal costing $45.00 .

This weekend we were exposed to new, and exciting research on how children’s, adolescents’ and adults’ working memory can be improved through computer-based training and its practical impact on their lives.

For example, we heard about:

  children survivors of brain tumors and leukemia. These children often lose significant cognitive, intellectual and academic abilities as a result of the chemotherapy and radiation therapy they receive.  Research being conducted at Duke University Medical Center is finding that working memory training appear to be able to reverse the losses previously experienced.

  autistic spectrum children and adolescents who also have problems with attention and poor mental focus. A multi-disciplinary outpatient treatment facility in Michigan is finding that, in addition to treatment by medication, computer-based working memory training often has positive effects on the social and emotional functioning of these students.  Parents report fewer “emotional meltdowns”, more awareness about their feelings, and better impulse control.

  elementary school ADHD students.   A group of researchers in the U.K. have found that after completing a working memory training program for five weeks, students’ academic abilities improved in reading comprehension, math reasoning, and being able to follow multiple-step classroom instructions.

Additionally, researchers are finding that:

 -working memory ability is a better predictor of academic success than students’ IQ scores.

 -deficits in working memory are highly common for children with genetic disorders.

 -traditional classroom instruction requires high levels of working memory for students.

 -students with low working memory: a) forget crucial information; and b) fail to successfully complete tasks.

To learn more about working memory, what it looks like in daily life, and to take a brief working memory assessment, go to www.aboutworkingmemory.com . 

There is a fascinating website that shares individual’s stories (preschoolers, school-age students, adolescents, and adults) who have been helped by receiving training for their working memory abilities.  And for those of you who would like to find out more about the training itself, visit www.workingmemorysolutions.com or www.cogmed.com . 

These are exciting times in the area of brain training and its impact on our daily lives!

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Posted in ADD / ADHD, Working memory, Executive performance, Learning disabilities, Adult ADD, Cogmed, ADHD, Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorders | 2 Comments »

Groundbreaking Research Released This Week - Improving Your Intellectual Abilities

Monday, May 5th, 2008

Earlier this week (Monday, April 27), the National Academy of Sciences released some pretty amazing research that was picked up by the New York Times and other major media.

For the first time ever, scientists have identified a cognitive training process that actually increases a person’s intelligence (aside from teaching the test items on an intelligence test!)

The training process, a structured process of improving one’s working memory, addresses the same skill set that has previously been shown to reduce the severity of symptoms for ADHD individuals.

“Working memory” is the ability to hold information mentally “online” while doing something with the information (or doing some other mental task). It is used in reading comprehension (remembering what you just read while reading the next section), math computation (especially in multiple step problems), or remembering a series of tasks to do while working on them. For IT people, it is very similar to RAM.

The research released by the National Academy of Science asserts the following. (The article is written in terms of “fluid reasoning” which is viewed as the core set of skills on which intelligence is built.)

1. Fluid reasoning is generally the ability to reason and to solve new problems independently of previously acquired knowledge.


2. Fluid reasoning is considered one of the most important factors in learning.


3. Fluid reasoning is closely related to professional and educational success, especially in complex and demanding environments.


 4. Previously, no training has been shown to improve fluid reasoning, aside from directly “teaching the test” (and this training does not transfer to real life functioning).


 5. Research now indicates that training on a demanding working memory task is shown to improve individuals’ fluid reasoning (both for low level and high level individuals).


 6. The training is dosage-dependent. The extent of gain in intelligence depends on the amount of training — the more training, the more improvement in fluid reasoning.

So, to say it plainly, this indicates that there is an identifiable way to increase your complex problem-solving ability. A second related research finding was released a week ago. At the annual Cognitive Neuroscience Society convention, Cogmed working memory training presented research that demonstrates normal adults (that is, adults who do not have significant medical or learning problems) can significantly improve their working memory through the Cogmed working memory training program. This was true both for a group of 20 to 30 year old adults and older adults from 60 to 70 years old.To me, if the research proves hold true, the implications seem significant.

*Individuals who struggle with more complex reasoning and learning have a proven method that can help improve those skills.

*Businessmen and executives can sharpen their mental abilities through a computer-based training program.

*Students who want to improve their performance on standardized admission tests (ACT, SAT, GRE, MCAT, LSAT) will probably be able to do so through working hard to improve their working memory. [Already research has shown working memory training to improve students’ reading comprehension and math calculation abilities.]

*Older adults who are slowly losing cognitive abilities as part of the normal aging process may be able to, at least, “stem the tide”. [Working memory has been shown to decline 10% each decade after the age of thirty.]

So, we will see what happens. If the research shows itself to be true and valid, a revolution of cognitive training may point to this past week as a watershed moment. If not, then social scientists may again be accused of overstating their case. From what I have seen in the body of research, I think we may be in the midst of something very significant.

NOTE: For those of you in the Wichita area, I will be presenting on the Cogmed working memory training program and its impact on ADHD individuals, as well as sharing this latest research on improving intelligence. Wednesday evening, May 7 at 7 p.m., Wichita Collegiate School. The presentation is open to the public. Call my office, 316-681-4428 for more information.

Wow! Learning new stuff is great. Remembering it is even better!

Sunday, February 24th, 2008

Ok, so last week I went to Chicago for two days of training in a new way of increasing your working memory. Wow.

I don’t get too excited about new stuff that comes on the market — anything, cars, weight loss programs, financial products, and especially in the realm of psychology and self-help. Given that I am now 50, I have been around the block a few times, I’ve been burnt more than once, and, as a result, am a fairly intense skeptic (especially about psych stuff.)

So let me tell you what’s up, and how it may apply to you or someone you know.

“Working memory” is this somewhat unusual term that most of us aren’t familiar with. Essentially, working memory is the ability to keep information “online” in our mind for a short period of time and to be able to use this information in our thinking.

Memory is remembering information. I say “2,5,8″ and you say “2,5,8″. I tell you my name is “Paul White” and you try to remember it. I put my car keys down and I (hopefully) remember where they are.

Working memory is doing something with the information we are remembering. You are “working” with the information. So if I say “3 - 2 + 1 = ___”, you are not just going to remember the number sentence, but while holding onto it, you attempt to solve it. If you are going somewhere for an appointment you have been once before, you get the address, and then try to “pull up” previous information to help you make decisions on the best route to get there. Working memory is very closely associated with concentration.

Let me tell you instances where working memory problems are frequently experienced:

*Reading information, and not being able to remember what you just read (at the end of the page, when you finish a chapter, later that day).

*During a meeting, class or lecture, you are not able to listen, stay focused, and process the information while continuing to listen (you “space off”, get distracted, or get overwhelmed with too much information at once.)

*Having a number of tasks to do, making a “mental note” about them, and then not being able to remember what you needed to do.

*In the midst of an important conversation, you think of some point you want to make, but need to hold onto the thought while the other person finishes theirs. When they are finished, you cannot remember what you were going to say.

There are lots of examples (remembering phone numbers, people’s names, where you parked your car), but this will suffice. As you might deduce, working memory is a significant deficit for individuals with ADHD (don’t think “hyperactive”, think “problems with attention, concentration, focus”).

So here’s the deal. A relatively recent breakthrough (that is, the past 5 years) in research has shown that working memory can be significantly increased through the appropriate training process. The research originated in Sweden and a training program was developed, and further researched. In the last 18 months, this training program came to the U.S. and currently being used in research at Harvard, Stanford, Notre Dame, New York University, and other institutions.

The research was originally focused on ADHD students, then adolescents and adults, and then research was done with adult stroke victims. The findings show for all of these groups that they were able to improve both their verbal and visual-spatial working memory through the training, and that there were secondary effects in better attention, concentration, impulse control and complex problem-solving, etc. (See this whitepaper for a good summary of the early research.)

Ok. So what is this training program? It is called the Cogmed Working Memory training. Essentially, it is a computer-based training program accompanied by professional coaching to assist in getting the most from the program. The computer-based part can be done from your home, office or wherever. The training is designed to be done 5 days a week for 5 weeks, requiring about 45-60 minutes a day. The Cogmed coach assists the trainee in understanding the training, setting up a schedule and structure to consistently do the training, and then provides weekly feedback on the training. The coach has online access to the daily training sessions, how the trainee is doing on the various activities (there are 13 training activities), and provides feedback and encouragement on how to improve. (Interesting to me, the program was developed in Sweden so it can be done and coached over a distance, given its use of the Internet and telephone-based coaching.)

The training is not easy. It is not just a bunch of computer games. The program is designed to “push” the trainee, by keeping the activities at a demanding (but not too difficult) level. Early research with the training demonstrated that trainees would not consistent do the training, or complete the program without the assistance of a coach. With a coach, the program has demonstrated a 94% successful completion rate in North America.

So what is so exciting about all of this?

First, this is the first non-medication intervention for ADHD individuals that peer-reviewed research demonstrates significant and lasting positive effects on ADHD symptoms. So for ADHD individuals (or parents of ADHD students) that don’t want to take meds, want to get off their meds or that have negative side effects from medication, this is a viable alternative. (Additional new research is showing that the training provides additional help to those who are on medication.)

Second, physiological tests show that after completing the training program the brain functions differently in the areas of the brain (prefrontal cortex and parietal lobe) that are associated with attention, concentration, and executive functioning. And individuals with brain damage were helped through the training.

Finally, I think there are a number of potential fascinating applications of the training (that either are in the process of being researched, or have not yet been) including:

*Aiding older adults and “baby boomers” in sharpening their mental skills and memory

*Improving reading comprehension

*Helping dyslexics in reading decoding (sounding out words)

*Maximizing performance on the SAT and ACT college entrance exams

*Assisting executives in improving their concentration, focus and problem-solving.

If you are interested in more information, go to www.aboutworkingmemory.org and/or www.cogmed.com . Also, I took two professionals with me to Chicago who were trained to work as coaches under my supervision (the training is only available through certified psychologists or physicians) and we are providing training to individuals all over (including overseas). There are currently 70 practices certified in the U.S. and you can find one close to you on the Cogmed website, or we would be happy to serve you (or recommend someone close by). You can visit our website at www.workingmemorysolutions.com for more information.

Keep learning, and remembering!

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Posted in Personal Development, ADD / ADHD, Working memory, Executive performance, SAT / ACT training, Memory loss, Learning | No Comments »