![]() ![]() We were thus motivated to address the neural effects of training in a spatial working memory task that with neurophysiological recordings in monkeys. What these correspond to at the level of neural spiking activity and how lasting changes can transfer between tasks has been hitherto unexplained. Increases are interpreted as reflecting a higher level of activation or recruitment of a larger cortical area, decreases as suggestive of improvements in efficiency 25, 26. Human fMRI studies have produced conflicting results about the effects of cognitive training, suggesting overall increases 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, or decreases in activity 19, 20, 21, 22, or more subtle differences such as changes in network modularity 23, 24. The neural basis of transfer has been poorly understood. Less contested is the idea that working memory training is beneficial for patients with clinical conditions, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), traumatic brain injury, and schizophrenia 4, 12, 13. The extent over which performance improvement after working memory training generalizes, or transfers, to tasks that were not part of the training has been a matter of debate some studies have been successful in inducing transfer from one task to another whereas others have not 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Working memory ability has been traditionally thought of as an immutable aptitude, but it is now understood that it can be improved by training in working memory tasks 4, 5, 6. Working memory, the ability to retain and manipulate information over a period of seconds, represents a core component of higher cognitive functions, including control of attention, non-verbal reasoning, and academic performance 1, 2, 3. Our results reveal how learning to perform cognitive tasks induces plasticity of prefrontal cortical activity, and how activity changes may generalize between tasks. In every training phase, changes induced by the actively learned task were also observed in a control task, which remained the same across the training period. Mastering different task phases was associated with distinct changes in neural activity, which included recruitment of larger numbers of neurons, increases or decreases of their firing rate, changes in the correlation structure between neurons, and redistribution of power across LFP frequency bands. To assess the neural activity changes induced by training, we recorded single units, multi-unit activity (MUA) and local field potentials (LFP) with chronic electrode arrays implanted in the prefrontal cortex of two monkeys, throughout the period they were trained to perform cognitive tasks. Training in working memory tasks is associated with lasting changes in prefrontal cortical activity. ![]()
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