Does Dual N-Back training produce permanent changes

[ccv1221]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone knows if gains in working memory/fluid
intelligence persist after you stop using program?

Or is it more like weight lifting, where when you stop weight lifting,
gains go away?

I have looked and can not find anything about this.

Carol

[Dennis Peterson]

I don't know but I will tell you an interesting experience I've had.

I also do OpenFocus training. (These are audio CDs, three volumes at
$50 each but if you google you can find a bittorrent download of the
first volume.) This training basically involves visualizing various
parts of your body, more and more at a time. It sorta spreads out your
attention, and produces a lot of alpha waves.

I do it off and on, and my experience has always been that if I
stopped for a while, I'd sink back into a tight, tense focus, and
couldn't do anything about it until I pulled out the CDs again.

Then I did some dual n-back, and after a month or so discovered I
could switch into the open focus mode at will.

For the past couple months I haven't used either, but I can still do that.

So they appear to be synergistic, at least in one direction, and it
doesn't appear to be just a short-term effect.

Whether changes in fluid intel or ability to focus from dual n-back
alone are permanent, I have no idea. There has been some research
that's found physical changes to the brain from dual n-back, so I
suspect it's not all that temporary.

[Pheonoxia]

Working memory training will "sustainably improve attention and
executive processing in children with ADHD. The study found that
significant improvements in working memory, mental stamina and
inhibition and significant decreases in ADHD symptoms remained six to
eight months after the training."
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/90426.php

Also, if you study neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to rewire
itself, you'd better understand how we can learn and unlearn processes.

[Pontus Granström]

I think that I feel better from doing dnb and I can not say why except that it might be a dopamine release when I complete a level that has been demanding, usually the feeling comes after 10 sessions. The day after I feel happier and more motivated (dopamine again?) and the days I do not do dnb I do not feel the same. So for me it's obvious that something is indeed happening on a celluar level.

[karnautrahl]

I just took a new job. During the trial 2 days, I had to get to grips
with an 8 table database in order to manipulate an application that
relied on it.

At the same time, during this a portion of source code was handed to
me, to clarify the workings.

This was in the first 2 hours.

My total sum of database knowledge prior to this, was INSERT INTO and
SELECT from, and very very simple Access database creation. Ten years
ago! :). Never been a developer. Been a buyer for over 1.4 years and
unemployed doing bugger all for 7.

My point? In two hours I picked up the whole thing and could add
controlled questions and modify all the linked tables correctly. The
whistle stop tour by the genius author was sufficient. He was
surprised at my speed. Not as much as I was! :P. I still remember the
names of the tables.

I wasn't that fast before. I'm sure of it.

My adaptability has shot up, as has my confidence. Last week I learnt
basic bodywork and priming. I figured out how to change my front diff
cos it was knackered-and I'm a total desk jockey.

I'd stopped using this 3 months ago.

Anecdotal evidence is an oxymoron I know, however-personally the
effects have lasted!

[Gaël DEEST]

You musn't forget the eventuality that you may only be more
/confident/ in your own abilities than you were before. Some sort of
placebo effect...

2009/8/15 karnautrahl <karna...@gmail.com>: