Training the Brain to Avoid Temptation?

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Windt

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Aug 6, 2011, 11:03:51 PM8/6/11
to Dual N-Back, Brain Training & Intelligence
Below is an article from an online psychology journal which says
researchers Katrijn Houben at Maastricht University in Netherlands
found that training working memory could enhance executive control. It
looks like the computer training task is similar to dual n back but
not quite. After participants used the training game they were able to
better reframe from drinking(her/his control and experimental groups
had alcohol addictions).

I am sorry that I am simply posting this article but I could not find
the extract. I would be thankful if anyone here can find the official
research along with the training gams.

"What do cheating on your diet, overreacting to a tantrum thrown by
your child, and having a drink even though you decided to stop
drinking have in common? They all involve failures of self-control.

The ability to control unwanted behaviors is at the heart of what
psychologists term executive control. Executive control is an umbrella
term that refers to a collection of cognitive functions - such as
attention, planning, memory, initiating actions and inhibiting them.
When our impulses get the best of us, a failure in executive control
is often to blame.

Fortunately, these failures are not inevitable. In fact, a paper
published last week in the journal Psychological Science suggests that
failures of executive control can be diminished by training our
working memory.

Working memory, housed in the prefrontal cortex, is strongly related
to executive control. People with less working memory have poor
executive functioning and training working memory improves executive
control. Because of this, Katrijn Houben and her colleagues at
Maastricht University in the Netherlands set out to test whether
strengthening people's working memory might help them control their
impulses.

They decided to look at impulse control in heavy drinkers. So, they
invited people who drank upwards of 30 drinks per week to complete a
series of on-line working memory training sessions. There were 25
sessions in total spread out over roughly a month's time and folks
took part in either a treatment or placebo training group.

In the treatment group, people went through an intensive working
memory training program that involved a variety of verbal and spatial
tasks designed to exercise working memory. In one task, the treatment
group saw letters - one by one - on a computer screen. They were to
remember the letters as they appeared and then to recall them in the
exact opposite order in which they had been originally presented. This
type of backwards memory task is quite hard because you have to keep
track of what is presented to you and reverse it in your head. This
reversing is the "working" part of working memory. Critically, as
people got better and better at the backwards memory task, the
difficulty - that is, how many items they had to remember and reverse
in mind - increased. In essence, the training was always pushing
people to work their working memory a bit more.

Folks in the placebo group also performed a variety of activities on
the computer that were similar to those done by those in the treatment
group. However, when people in the placebo group performed the
backwards memory task described above, they only had to remember a few
items and the number of items never increased. The placebo group had
much less of a working memory workout.

Not surprisingly, people in the treatment group got better on the
working memory tasks they trained on. But these folks also improved on
other executive control tasks that they had not practiced. Even more
impressive, people in the treatment group reduced their alcohol intake
by about 10 glasses a week compared to what they drank before the
study (with the biggest reductions for those with the strongest
impulses to drink alcohol). People in the placebo group did not show a
change in their drinking behavior.

A month after the training was over, study participants were invited
back on-line and their working memory and alcohol intake was assessed
once again. The training benefits remained - both in terms of the
boost to working memory and the reduction in alcohol intake.

Of course, more research is needed to figure out just how long these
effects last and whether working memory training can help control
alcohol use in clinical samples of alcohol abusers. Nonetheless, this
work is exciting because it suggest that, just as you can build muscle
through weight training, brain training can reduce alcohol abuse and
likely a whole host of unhealthy behaviors."

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/addictive-behaviors-substance-use-and-abuse/27175-training-the-brain-to-avoid-temptation.html#post190882

Windt

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Aug 6, 2011, 11:18:10 PM8/6/11
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Abstract is here.

"Alcohol abuse disrupts core executive functions, including working
memory (WM)—the ability to maintain and manipulate goal-relevant
information. When executive functions like WM are weakened, drinking
behavior gets out of control and is guided more strongly by automatic
impulses. This study investigated whether training WM restores control
over drinking behavior. Forty-eight problem drinkers performed WM
training tasks or control tasks during 25 sessions over at least 25
days. Before and after training, we measured WM and drinking behavior.
Training WM improved WM and reduced alcohol intake for more than 1
month after the training. Further, the indirect effect of training on
alcohol use through improved WM was moderated by participants’ levels
of automatic impulses: Increased WM reduced alcohol consumption in
participants with relatively strong automatic preferences for alcohol.
These findings are consistent with the theoretical framework and
demonstrate that training WM may be an effective strategy to reduce
alcohol use by increasing control over automatic impulses to drink
alcohol. "
http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/06/14/0956797611412392.abstract
> http://forum.psychlinks.ca/addictive-behaviors-substance-use-and-abus...

Windt

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Aug 6, 2011, 11:56:40 PM8/6/11
to Dual N-Back, Brain Training & Intelligence
Even though working memory is what we are discussing here, I don't
think the game Houben used was identical to dual n back. Subjects used
a different(and more challenging?) program. It would great if anyone
knew of or could find her game. I can't seem to find it online. :)

On Aug 6, 11:18 pm, Windt <keif...@aol.com> wrote:
> Abstract is here.
>
> "Alcohol abuse disrupts core executive functions, including working
> memory (WM)—the ability to maintain and manipulate goal-relevant
> information. When executive functions like WM are weakened, drinking
> behavior gets out of control and is guided more strongly by automatic
> impulses. This study investigated whether training WM restores control
> over drinking behavior. Forty-eight problem drinkers performed WM
> training tasks or control tasks during 25 sessions over at least 25
> days. Before and after training, we measured WM and drinking behavior.
> Training WM improved WM and reduced alcohol intake for more than 1
> month after the training. Further, the indirect effect of training on
> alcohol use through improved WM was moderated by participants’ levels
> of automatic impulses: Increased WM reduced alcohol consumption in
> participants with relatively strong automatic preferences for alcohol.
> These findings are consistent with the theoretical framework and
> demonstrate that training WM may be an effective strategy to reduce
> alcohol use by increasing control over automatic impulses to drink
> alcohol. "http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/06/14/0956797611412392.abst...
> >http://forum.psychlinks.ca/addictive-behaviors-substance-use-and-abus...- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Message has been deleted
Message has been deleted

unread,
Aug 7, 2011, 1:05:05 AM8/7/11
to brain-t...@googlegroups.com
What's the point of making a plug-in when crab-back with letters and position is more or less the same thing? People really should take a closer look at crab-back after having pounded their skulls into traditional DNB for the thousandth time; I'm still surprised few are even aware of it or even know what it is; perhaps some kind of tutorial is in order.

This does provide confirmation for crab-back as a mode that provides something on the order of executive-function improvement, so thanks for sharing, Windt. But hopefully this response should provide some kind of answer to your question.

Of course, I say this not knowing what were the others among the "variety" of tasks used in the study.

argumzio


On Saturday, August 6, 2011 11:35:53 PM UTC-5, ailambris wrote:
To be clear, I didn't develop Brain Workshop. I would just be offering
a plug-in of sorts.

On Aug 6, 9:32 pm, ailambris <aila...@gmail.com> wrote:
> http://scienceblogs.com/developingintelligence/2007/01/review_of_the_...
>
> I'd be willing to develop an application and patch the existing Brain
> Workshop application to include it if there is enough of an interest.
> Actually I think I might do it anyway. Thanks guy.
Message has been deleted

Windt

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Aug 7, 2011, 2:12:51 AM8/7/11
to Dual N-Back, Brain Training & Intelligence
Perhaps the good people at Maastricht University will release their
game to the public like UMich did.
> > > Actually I think I might do it anyway. Thanks guy.- Hide quoted text -

ailambris

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Aug 7, 2011, 3:34:12 PM8/7/11
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_Self Ordered_ Pointing Task

ailambris

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Aug 7, 2011, 3:37:40 PM8/7/11
to Dual N-Back, Brain Training & Intelligence
By the way, "more or less the same thing" strikes me as a grossly
perfunctory treatment of a topic that is riddled with subtlety,
wouldn't you say?

ailambris

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Aug 7, 2011, 4:13:02 PM8/7/11
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But as always, thank you for the response. I say this as I step out of
my apartment, into the thick of the jungle, with the hope of returning
to my dear computer without a scathing response lying wait, to destroy
the calm of my tiny fortress.

unread,
Aug 7, 2011, 4:20:44 PM8/7/11
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If being presented with letters and having to remember them backwards (like reverse digit span) isn't like crab-back, then what is?

argumzio



On Sunday, August 7, 2011 3:13:02 PM UTC-5, ailambris wrote:
But as always, thank you for the response. I say this as I step out of
my apartment, into the thick of the jungle, with the hope of returning
to my dear computer without a scathing response lying wait, to destroy
the calm of my tiny fortress.

unread,
Aug 7, 2011, 4:26:58 PM8/7/11
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Windt

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Aug 7, 2011, 8:59:12 PM8/7/11
to Dual N-Back, Brain Training & Intelligence
Honestly though, I have taken a look at crab back and will try it but
after all of my (wasted?) time and effort devoted to n-back I don't
know if I will use it. I won't be satistfied until I get my hands on
what was used in the study at Maastricht U. I don't want to expend any
more effort on be fools gold. It's silly of the journalist to publish
their report on this wonderous program and not lead us to the task
itself. So far only the abstract to the study is free, so maybe
tomorrow I will travel to my University to see if their library has a
subscription to the publishing journal.

I feel like writing to Katrijn Houben herself but think that might be
inappropriate.
> > _Self Ordered_ Pointing Task- Hide quoted text -

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Aug 7, 2011, 9:24:25 PM8/7/11
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No, your time hasn't been "wasted" – at least according to the estimation of many people. It is only my opinion that other modes should be used in addition to DNB which might not even be the best mode for the kinds of gains people are hoping to see (executive function, attentional control, STM, WMC, etc.).

Generally, authors are not all that bothered by sharing their research tools, so it couldn't hurt to try to contact Katrijn Houben.

Turns out there are a total of three different tasks used in the study. One of them not mentioned earlier in the thread is briefly described here (following a sequence of color changes in a 4^2 grid): http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/were-only-human/48788.html

argumzio



On Sunday, August 7, 2011 7:59:12 PM UTC-5, Windt wrote:
Honestly though, I have taken a look at crab back and will try it but
after all of my (wasted?) time and effort devoted to n-back I don't
know if I will use it. I won't be satistfied until I get my hands on
what was used in the study at Maastricht U. I don't want to expend any
more effort on be fools gold. It's silly of the journalist to publish
their report on this wonderous program and not lead us to the task
itself.  So far only the abstract to the study is free, so maybe
tomorrow I will travel to my University to see if their library has a
subscription to the publishing journal.

I feel like writing to Katrijn Houben herself but think that might be
inappropriate.

Reece

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Aug 8, 2011, 2:21:39 AM8/8/11
to Dual N-Back, Brain Training & Intelligence
It would be interesting to know any rationale behind why certain
researchers have been opting for a 4x4 grid with 15/16 possible
locations and not a 3x3 grid with 8/9 possible locations. If less
frequent matches (barring the equivalent of a higher
'chance_of_guaranteed_match' setting in their program) in a larger
grid (4x4 vs 3x3) is viewed by researchers as being highly desirable,
this may in turn be suggestive of additional benefits resulting from
training with increased interference settings, since 16 possible
locations rather than 9 possible locations means a false-positive
(that is 'one position off to the left/right/up/down from having been
a match') can be ***that much closer*** to having been an actual
match, increasing the level of discrimination necessary to correctly
recognize it as not being a match (essentially, this is more or less
the premise behind why interference works to make the task harder,
no?).

On Aug 7, 8:24 pm, ☉ <argum...@gmail.com> wrote:
> No, your time hasn't been "wasted" – at least according to the estimation of
> many people. It is only my opinion that other modes should be used in
> addition to DNB which might not even be the best mode for the kinds of gains
> people are hoping to see (executive function, attentional control, STM, WMC,
> etc.).
>
> Generally, authors are not all that bothered by sharing their research
> tools, so it couldn't hurt to try to contact Katrijn Houben.
>
> Turns out there are a total of three different tasks used in the study. One
> of them not mentioned earlier in the thread is briefly described here
> (following a sequence of color changes in a 4^2 grid):http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/were-only-human/48...

Windt

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Aug 8, 2011, 4:44:19 AM8/8/11
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Here is a better description of the tasks from a link below. Cognitive
fun I believe has some like these tasks described below.

“During the visuospatial WM task, several squares in a 4 × 4 grid on a
computer screen changed color. Participants had to reproduce the
sequence of changes by using a computer mouse to click, in order, on
the squares that had changed color. During the backward digit span
task, several numbers were presented on the computer screen one at a
time, and participants had to reproduce this sequence in reverse order
using either the computer mouse or the number keys on the keyboard.
Finally, in the letter span task, several letters were presented one
at a time in a circle on the computer screen. One of the positions in
this circle was then indicated, and participants had to enter the
corresponding letter using the keyboard. Each of the three tasks
consisted of 30 trials.”

http://www.mindsparke.com/brain-training-blog/brain-exercises/working-memory-training-to-reduce-alcohol-consumption/
> > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

King Of The Stars

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Aug 9, 2011, 6:52:42 AM8/9/11
to Dual N-Back, Brain Training & Intelligence
Seems like working memory is the key to cognitive control in general.
The stroop test is used to identify people with a tendancy for
violence (impulsivity), stroop performance relies on WM.

On Aug 8, 10:44 am, Windt <keif...@aol.com> wrote:
> Here is a better description of the tasks from a link below. Cognitive
> fun I believe has some like these tasks described below.
>
> “During the visuospatial WM task, several squares in a 4 × 4 grid on a
> computer screen changed color. Participants had to reproduce the
> sequence of changes by using a computer mouse to click, in order, on
> the squares that had changed color. During the backward digit span
> task, several numbers were presented on the computer screen one at a
> time, and participants had to reproduce this sequence in reverse order
> using either the computer mouse or the number keys on the keyboard.
> Finally, in the letter span task, several letters were presented one
> at a time in a circle on the computer screen. One of the positions in
> this circle was then indicated, and participants had to enter the
> corresponding letter using the keyboard. Each of the three tasks
> consisted of 30 trials.”
>
> http://www.mindsparke.com/brain-training-blog/brain-exercises/working...

Windt

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Aug 9, 2011, 10:38:17 AM8/9/11
to Dual N-Back, Brain Training & Intelligence
As promised here is the full PDF file for the study done on the
alcoholics. I do not have much time right now, so please let me know
if you guys have access to it.

http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/06/14/0956797611412392.full.pdf+html

I'll also copy and paste it to my email address and if for some reason
others here cannot get to the pdf I'll find a wway to sneak it onto
the message board.
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