Center for Healthy Minds

This research explores the possibility of measuring the effects of an established cognitive training program on brain development in 6-year-old children. This study used a cognitive training program that has been shown to improve working memory, but little has been done to examine associated changes in the brain. The study used structural and functional MRI to examine white matter tracts and resting blood flow in regions of interest. Children who received memory training were compared with a control group that did not receive the training.

This is the first research project to examine this question in young children. The research seeks to build a larger understanding of the neural networks that support the development of working memory and how cognitive training tasks shape the developing brain.