Kable Joseph W, Caulfield M Kathleen, Falcone Mary, McConnell Mairead, Bernardo Leah, Parthasarathi Trishala, Cooper Nicole, Ashare Rebecca, Audrain-McGovern Janet, Hornik Robert, Diefenbach Paul, Lee Frank J, Lerman Caryn
Departments of Psychology and
Departments of Psychology and.
J Neurosci. 2017 Aug 2;37(31):7390-7402. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2832-16.2017. Epub 2017 Jul 10.
Increased preference for immediate over delayed rewards and for risky over certain rewards has been associated with unhealthy behavioral choices. Motivated by evidence that enhanced cognitive control can shift choice behavior away from immediate and risky rewards, we tested whether training executive cognitive function could influence choice behavior and brain responses. In this randomized controlled trial, 128 young adults (71 male, 57 female) participated in 10 weeks of training with either a commercial web-based cognitive training program or web-based video games that do not specifically target executive function or adapt the level of difficulty throughout training. Pretraining and post-training, participants completed cognitive assessments and functional magnetic resonance imaging during performance of the following validated decision-making tasks: delay discounting (choices between smaller rewards now vs larger rewards in the future) and risk sensitivity (choices between larger riskier rewards vs smaller certain rewards). Contrary to our hypothesis, we found no evidence that cognitive training influences neural activity during decision-making; nor did we find effects of cognitive training on measures of delay discounting or risk sensitivity. Participants in the commercial training condition improved with practice on the specific tasks they performed during training, but participants in both conditions showed similar improvement on standardized cognitive measures over time. Moreover, the degree of improvement was comparable to that observed in individuals who were reassessed without any training whatsoever. Commercial adaptive cognitive training appears to have no benefits in healthy young adults above those of standard video games for measures of brain activity, choice behavior, or cognitive performance. Engagement of neural regions and circuits important in executive cognitive function can bias behavioral choices away from immediate rewards. Activity in these regions may be enhanced through adaptive cognitive training. Commercial brain training programs claim to improve a broad range of mental processes; however, evidence for transfer beyond trained tasks is mixed. We undertook the first randomized controlled trial of the effects of commercial adaptive cognitive training (Lumosity) on neural activity and decision-making in young adults ( = 128) compared with an active control (playing on-line video games). We found no evidence for relative benefits of cognitive training with respect to changes in decision-making behavior or brain response, or for cognitive task performance beyond those specifically trained.
相较于延迟奖励，对即时奖励的偏好增加，以及相较于确定奖励，对风险奖励的偏好增加，这与不健康的行为选择有关。鉴于有证据表明增强认知控制可以使选择行为远离即时和风险奖励，我们测试了训练执行认知功能是否会影响选择行为和大脑反应。在这项随机对照试验中，128名年轻人（71名男性，57名女性）参与了为期10周的训练，训练内容要么是基于网络的商业认知训练项目，要么是基于网络的视频游戏，后者并非专门针对执行功能，也不会在整个训练过程中调整难度水平。在训练前和训练后，参与者在执行以下经过验证的决策任务时完成了认知评估和功能磁共振成像：延迟折扣（现在较小奖励与未来较大奖励之间的选择）和风险敏感性（较大风险奖励与较小确定奖励之间的选择）。与我们的假设相反，我们没有发现证据表明认知训练会影响决策过程中的神经活动；我们也没有发现认知训练对延迟折扣或风险敏感性测量有影响。商业训练条件下的参与者在训练期间执行的特定任务上通过练习有所提高，但随着时间的推移，两种条件下的参与者在标准化认知测量上都有类似的提高。此外，提高程度与那些未经任何训练而重新接受评估的个体所观察到的程度相当。对于大脑活动、选择行为或认知表现的测量，商业适应性认知训练在健康年轻人中似乎并不比标准视频游戏有更多益处。执行认知功能中重要的神经区域和神经回路的参与可以使行为选择偏离即时奖励。这些区域的活动可能通过适应性认知训练得到增强。商业大脑训练项目声称可以改善广泛的心理过程；然而，关于训练任务之外的迁移证据并不一致。我们进行了第一项随机对照试验，比较了商业适应性认知训练（Lumosity）与积极对照（玩在线视频游戏）对128名年轻人神经活动和决策的影响。我们没有发现证据表明认知训练在决策行为或大脑反应变化方面有相对益处，也没有发现其在特定训练之外的认知任务表现方面有相对益处。
