The Future of Cognitive Training

Chapter

Abstract

Cognitive training is becoming increasingly popular as a topic of scientific research. We discuss possible as well as necessary future developments in this area. Among other things, we emphasize the need to develop more specific, mechanistic theories to guide cognitive training programs, discuss the combination of cognitive training with other cognitive-enhancement techniques, and consider the opportunities provided by virtual reality and gamification. We suggest that cognitive training programs should take individual differences more into consideration and discuss the societal and ethical background for the use of such programs.

Keywords

Cognitive training Neurofeedback Brain stimulation Augmented reality Gamification 

References

  1. Akbari Chermahini, S., & Hommel, B. (2010). The (b)link between creativity and dopamine: Spontaneous eye blink rates predict and dissociate divergent and convergent thinking. Cognition, 115, 458–465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Akbari Chermahini, S., & Hommel, B. (2012). More creative through positive mood? Not everyone! Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6, 319.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentralGoogle Scholar
  3. Birbaumer, N., Ramos Murguialday, A., Weber, C., & Montoya, P. (2009). Neurofeedback and brain-computer interface clinical applications. International Review of Neurobiology, 86, 107–117.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  4. Bivall, P., Ainsworth, S., & Tibell, L. A. (2011). Do haptic representations help complex molecular learning? Science Education, 95, 700-719. doi:  10.1002/sce.20439.
  5. Bostrom, N., & Sandberg, A. (2009). Cognitive enhancement: Methods, ethics, regulatory challenges. Science and Engineering Ethics, 15(3), 311–341.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  6. Breitenstein, C., Wailke, S., Bushuven, S., Kamping, S., Zwitserlood, P., Ringelstein, E. B., et al. (2004). D-amphetamine boosts language learning independent of its cardiovascular and motor arousing effects. Neuropsychopharmacology, 29, 1704–1714.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  7. Colzato, L. S., Jongkees, B., Sellaro, R., & Hommel, B. (2013). Working memory reloaded: Tyrosine repletes updating in the N-Back task. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 7, 700.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Colzato, L. S., van den Wildenberg, W., & Hommel, B. (2014). Cognitive control and the COMT Val158Met polymorphism: Genetic modulation of videogame training and transfer to task-switching efficiency. Psychological Research, 78, 670–678.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  9. Colzato, L. S., Waszak, F., Nieuwenhuis, S., Posthuma, D., & Hommel, B. (2010). The flexible mind is associated with the Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism: Evidence for a role of dopamine in the control of task switching. Neuropsychologia, 48, 2764–2768.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  10. Enriquez-Geppert, S., Huster, R. J., Figge, C., & Herrmann, C. S. (2014). Self-regulation of frontal-midline theta facilitates memory updating and mental set shifting. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 8, 420.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentralGoogle Scholar
  11. Gilleen, J., Michalopoulou, P. G., Reichenberg, A., Drake, R., Wykes, T., Lewis, S. W., et al. (2014). Modafinil combined with cognitive training is associated with improved learning in healthy volunteers—A randomised controlled trial. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 24(4), 529–539.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  12. Gruzelier, J. H. (2014). EEG-neurofeedback for optimising performance. I: A review of cognitive and affective outcome in healthy participants. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 44, 124–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Habermas, J. (2003). The future of human nature. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
  14. Han, I., & Black, J. B. (2011). Incorporating haptic feedback in simulation for learning physics. Computers & Education, 57(4), 2281–2290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Hanslmayr, S., Sauseng, P., Doppelmayr, M., Schabus, M., & Klimesch, W. (2005). Increasing individual upper alpha power by neurofeedback improves cognitive performance in human subjects. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 30(1), 1–10.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  16. Hoedlmoser, K., Pecherstorfer, T., Gruber, G., Anderer, P., Doppelmayr, M., Klimesch, W., et al. (2008). Instrumental conditioning of human sensorimotor rhythm (12–15 Hz) and its impact on sleep as well as declarative learning. Sleep, 31(10), 1401.PubMedPubMedCentralGoogle Scholar
  17. Hommel, B. (2015). The theory of event coding (TEC) as embodied-cognition framework. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1318.PubMedPubMedCentralGoogle Scholar
  18. Hommel, B., & Kibele, A. (submitted for publication). Down with retirement: Implications of embodied cognition for healthy aging.Google Scholar
  19. Hommel, B., Müsseler, J., Aschersleben, G., & Prinz, W. (2001). The theory of event coding (TEC): A framework for perception and action planning. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24, 849–878.Google Scholar
  20. Max Planck Institute on Human Development, Stanford Center on Longevity. (2014). A consensus on the brain training industry from the scientific community. Retrieved March 2, 2015.Google Scholar
  21. Juan, M. C., Alcaniz, M., Monserrat, C., Botella, C., Banos, R. M., & Guerrero, B. (2005). Using augmented reality to treat phobias. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 25(6), 31–37.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  22. Jwa, A. (2015). Early adopters of the magical thinking cap: A study on do-it-yourself (DIY) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) user community. Journal of Law and Biosciences. doi: 10.1093/jlb/lsv017.
  23. Kass, L. (2002). Life, liberty, and defense of dignity: The challenge for bioethics. San Francisco: Encounter Books.Google Scholar
  24. Keizer, A. W., Verment, R., & Hommel, B. (2010). Enhancing cognitive control through neurofeedback: A role of gamma-band activity in managing episodic retrieval. NeuroImage, 49, 3404–3413.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  25. Knecht, S., Breitenstein, C., Bushuven, S., Wailke, S., Kamping, S., Floel, A., Zwitserlood, P., & Ringelstein, E. B. (2004). Levodopa: Faster and better word learning in normal humans. Annals of Neurology, 56, 20–26.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  26. Kuo, M. F., & Nitsche, M. A. (2012). Effects of transcranial electrical stimulation on cognition. Clinical EEG and Neuroscience, 43, 192–199.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  27. Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49–100.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  28. Nitsche, M. A., & Paulus, W. (2011). Transcranial direct current stimulation—Update 2011. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 29, 463–492.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  29. Owen, A. M., Hampshire, A., Grahn, J. A., Stenton, R., Dajani, S., Burns, A. S., et al. (2010). Putting brain training to the test. Nature, 465, 775–778.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentralGoogle Scholar
  30. Richmond, L. L., Wolk, D., Chein, J., & Olson, I. R. (2014). Transcranial direct current stimulation enhances verbal working memory training performance over time and near transfer outcomes. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 26(11), 2443–2454. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00657.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  31. Salkever, D. S. (1995). Updated estimates of earnings benefits from reduced exposure of children to environmental lead. Environmental Research, 70, 1–6.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  32. Savulescu, J. (2009). Enhancement and Fairness. In P. Healey (Ed.), Tomorrow’s people: The challenges of technologies for life-extension and enhancement. London: Earthscan.Google Scholar
  33. Schmiedek, F., Lövdén, M., & Lindenberger, U. (2010). Hundred days of cognitive training enhance broad cognitive abilities in adulthood: Findings from the COGITO study. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2, 27. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2010.00027.Google Scholar
  34. Schultz, W., Dayan, P., & Montague, P. R. (1997). A neural substrate of prediction and reward. Science, 275, 1593–1599.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  35. Schwartz, J. (1994). Low-level lead exposure and children’s IQ: A meta-analysis and search for a threshold. Environmental Research, 65, 42–55.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  36. Sherlin, L. H., Arns, M., Lubar, J., Heinrich, H., Kerson, C., Strehl, U., et al. (2011). Neurofeedback and basic learning theory: Implications for research and practice. Journal of Neurotherapy, 15, 292–304. doi: 10.1080/10874208.2011.623089.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Steenbergen, L., Sellaro, R., Hommel, B., Kühn, S., & Colzato, L. S. (2015). “Unfocus” on foc.us: Commercial tDCS headset impairs working memory. Experimental Brain Research, 234(3), 637–643.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentralGoogle Scholar
  38. Stepp, C. E., An, Q., & Matsuoka, Y. (2012). Repeated training with augmentative vibrotactile feedback increases object manipulation performance. PLoS One, 7(2), e32743.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentralGoogle Scholar
  39. Wilson, M. (2002). Six views of embodied cognition. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 9(4), 625–636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  40. Zoefel, B., Huster, R. J., & Herrmann, C. S. (2011). Neurofeedback training of the upper alpha frequency band in EEG improves cognitive performance. NeuroImage, 54(2), 1427–1431.CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Cognitive Psychology Unit, Leiden Institute for Brain and CognitionLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands

Personalised recommendations