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American Academy of Pediatrics Recognizes Cogmed Working Memory Training as Evidence Based Treatment for ADHD
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released a new report on evidence based practices for child and adolescent psychosocial interventions or treatment. In this report, Cogmed Working Memory Training is listed as an evidence based treatment for ADHD with "GOOD SUPPORT" in research.
"This report is intended to guide practitioners, educators, youth, and families in developing appropriate plans using psychosocial interventions. It was created for the period April 2010–September 2010 using the PracticeWise Evidence-Based Services (PWEBS) Database, available at www.practicewise.com."
To download a copy of this report, click here.
Cogmed Working Memory Training
Cogmed Working Memory Training is a home-based computerized brain training program that is designed to help people sustainably improve their working memory capacity. Clinically-proven results demonstrate that after training, users increase their ability to concentrate, control impulsive behavior, and better utilize complex reasoning skills. In the end, better academic performance can be achieved especially in math and reading.
For more information about Cogmed Working Memory Training, please see the sections below:
Introduction to Cogmed Working Memory Training
The Working Memory Story
How many times have you heard it? How many times have you said it or thought it?
"Its in one ear and out the other....."
or perhaps:
"He just doesn't listen to a word I say."
How often does this happen, to you or to someone you love?
You send him to his room to do three simple things and find ten minutes later he has done only one....
or this?
You read a paragraph, but by the time you get to the end of the paragraph you can't remember the beginning, so you have to read the whole paragraph again just to be able to understand it.
Working Memory Problems
Each of these examples suggest that working memory problems may be getting in the way.
Working memory is like a mental note pad to store a small amount of information for a short time to accomplish a task. It allows us to hold onto information and then work with that information in our minds. This type of memory is critically important for many tasks like following directions, problem solving, reading comprehension, and math.
For example, a mom tells her son: "Go to your room, get your backpack and your jacket. Oh... and don't forget your hat!" Her son has to keep these four bits (room, backpack, jacket, and hat) in his memory and then act on them to follow directions to complete the task.
What is happening if he comes back with only one or two of the items she mentioned, or if he gets to his room and gets distracted and starts playing with legos. It would be easy to think that he wasn't listening or that he didn't want to comply. But what if he had a significant working memory problem? What if he just could not remember what he was supposed to be doing.
Another example: a college student reads a difficult textbook. But by the time he gets to the end of the paragraph he has forgotten the beginning. The end doesn't make sense without the beginning, so he has to reread the paragraph. What is happening here? Does he have dyslexia? Or is it ADHD? Or is his working memory weak?
Or, a senior looks up a number in the phone book, but by the time he gets to the phone, he has forgotten the number. Many might worry that he has Alzheimer's. But it could be that he has developed some working memory deficits with aging.
For all of us, working memory capacity is small. Researchers have estimated that most of us can store no more then seven bits of information. But if your working memory capacity is even smaller, then information that is stored is easily lost through overload or through distraction. With distraction, you end up putting into working memory things you don't need to get the task done and so the information you do need is lost.
Working memory problems are common with ADHD, and may be part of the problem when school performance is poor. They occur with brain injury, and stroke and often develop with aging. Research with ADHD shows that the gap in capacity for working memory grows across childhood.
Until the development of Cogmed Working Memory Training, there was no treatment proven specifically to improve working memory.
What is Working Memory?
Working memory is the name given to our very short term memory, where we store small amounts of information so that we can use that information to complete a task. Working memory allows us to hold onto information and then work with that information.
Researchers have estimated that most of us can store about seven bits of information. But if your working memory capacity is smaller, then information that is stored is easily lost through overload or through distraction. With distraction, you end up putting into working memory things you don't need to get the task done. The information you do need is lost.
As we develop, we use working memory in different ways. It is critical for learning the alphabet for preschoolers, for reading comprehension and mental arithmetic in elementary school, and for completing homework independently, solving multi-step problems, and completing projects in middle school. In high school, working memory is essential for writing essays and reports. Working memory performance is crucial on SAT's: you have to keep all four multiple choice options in mind and decide which is best! In college, working memory helps students maintain their focus during long lectures, and complete papers, lab reports, and study for exams.
As adults, we depend on our working memory to get to work on time, to meet deadlines, to prioritize among the many tasks we have to complete, and to handle complex financial transactions.
Recent scientific research conducted at universities in the U.S., Canada and Europe demonstrates that working memory is one of our most crucial cognitive capabilities, essential for countless daily tasks like following directions, remembering information momentarily, complex reasoning or staying focused on a project. Because researchers have learned that working memory can be strengthened through intensive practice and training, this broadened understanding of the importance of working memory can provide great hope to a range of people who suffer from working memory deficits, including children and adults with attention problems, people with learning disabilities, and stroke victims among others.
To learn more about working memory and its importance in our lives, CLICK HERE.
Working Memory Essentials
* Working memory is a key cognitive function that allows us to hold information in mind for short periods of time (typically a few seconds)
* Working memory develops during childhood and adulthood; it reaches maximum capacity at around 30 years of age
* Working memory gradually declines during aging, approximately 5-10% per decade after the age of 30
* The capacity of working memory varies among individuals.
* About 50% of the variance in general intelligence between individuals can be explained by differences in working memory capacity
* Kids with attention problems often have working memory deficits
* Strong working memory has been linked to academic success
* Stroke victims often suffer from impaired working memory
* Working memory is plastic. Like a muscle, it can be improved through exercise
Background
The term “working memory” has been used for several decades. Early conceptions date back to the late 19th century when American psychologist William James proposed the distinction between a “primary” memory with a limited capacity and a long-term memory. Psychologist Dr. Alan Baddeley later defined working memory as a multifaceted function that captures visual and auditory information, directs attention, and coordinates processes. This model, still widely accepted, has been modified following exhaustive research demonstrating that working memory is definitively linked to attention control.
Deficits in working memory
Deficits in working memory can affect an individual’s ability to focus attention, control impulses and solve problems. For example, someone with a working memory deficit may lose focus frequently when reading or forget why they move from one room to another. Impairments in working memory are found in a wide range of individuals who experience attention deficits, such as children and adults with ADD or ADHD, persons with learning disabilities and victims of stroke or traumatic brain injury.
Working memory can be strengthened
Though working memory has been studied for decades in both animals and humans, only recently did Swedish Neuroscientist Dr. Torkel Klingberg prove it to be a plastic function of the brain, able to be strengthened through rigorous training. Dispelling the long held belief that working memory is a fixed property of the individual, Klingberg’s breakthrough research, performed at Stanford University and at the prestigious Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, has shed new light on the treatment of attention deficits.
Do I have a Working Memory Problem?
Because working memory is involved in so many daily life activities, there are many different indications of working memory problems. Here are some possible signs:
It is important to recognize that everyone experiences some of these difficulties some of the time. But if these sorts of problems are frequent and/or severe, they may be an indicator of a working memory problem. It is difficult to determine informally if you or someone you love has a working memory problem. Formal testing is required to be sure. However, because this testing is time intensive, it may be preferable to take a simple screening test as a first step. The results of such a screen will indicate whether or not further assessment is needed.
To assist you in determining if you or someone in your family may have a working memory problem, we are offering a working memory screening test and brief follow up consultation. To schedule your screening test and consult, CLICK HERE.
For a printable guide showing what tasks working memory is used for and the signs of working memory problems across the lifespan, CLICK HERE.
Working Memory Screening Test and Consultation
To assist you in determining if you or someone in your family may have a working memory problem, we are offering a working memory screening test and brief follow up consultation. To schedule your screening test and consult, CLICK HERE.
Back to the top.
Improve Working Memory Through Scientifically Designed and Tested Computerized Exercise and Training
Research and a growing body of experience shows that it is possible to significantly improve working memory through training and practice. We know from advanced brain science that the brain is capable of enormous change through expereince. Brain scientists call this capacity of the brain neuroplasticity.
A few years ago, neuroscientists researching working memory concluded based on their research and that of others on neuroplasticity that it ought to be possible to train the brain to improve working memory. After positive initial research, they teamed up with videogame developers to create a computerized program to improve working memory through very intense exercise and training.
The result of their efforts is a computerized working memory training program called Cogmed Working Memory Training.
In this program, there are a series of engaging working memory games and challenges. The working memory challenges, like most popular videogames, get progressively harder as your skills improve. Cogmed Working Memory Training provides scientifically designed working memory exercise and practice. Just like physical exercise, it leads to improved skill and capacity.
Very solid research has shown that working memory improves and that the improvements last long after the training ends. It has been shown to be effective for working memory deficits that accompany ADHD, stroke, and aging.
The program has been designed for use with all ages, from preschool to seniors. Its done in the home, with 30 to 45 minute sessions 3-4 times a week for 25 training sessions total. 80% of users show measureable improvement in working memory, concentration, problems solving, and reading comprehension.
Cogmed Working Memory Training
Cogmed Working Memory Training is a home-based program that is designed to help people sustainably improve attention by training and increasing their working memory capacity. Clinically-proven results demonstrate that after training, users improve their ability to concentrate, control impulsive behavior and better utilize complex reasoning skills. In the end, better academic performance can be achieved especially in math and reading.
Cogmed Working Memory Training is:
- Specifically designed for sustainably improved attention
- Evidence-based
- Clinically proven
- Five weeks long
- Coach-supported
- Conducted at home with phone-based assistance
- Proven to be 80% effective
For a demonstration of how Cogmed Working Memory Training works for children (Cogmed RM) and for adults (Cogmed QM) and for more information about working memory and the research evidence of the effectiveness of this brain training method, CLICK HERE.
Clinically proven results
Our specific program is scientifically validated by clinical studies published in respected professional journals.
Important notice: Cogmed Working Memory Training is not intended to be a substitute for a health care provider's consultation or a substitute for medication that a doctor may have prescribed. Scientific research with respect to Cogmed Working Memory Training has evidenced strong improvement effects. Even so, the effects or results in individual cases and for a specific user can never be guaranteed and results may vary.
For more detailed information on the Cogmed working memory training program, CLICK HERE.
Cogmed Practical Matters
Where and When
It is critically important that the training be done in a quiet place, free of distractions. It is also important that an adult oversee the training process when children are doing the training - sitting with the child, encouraging him or her when the tasks get difficult, witnessing and appreciating his or her efforts, hard work, and successes.
Our Cogmed qualified coaches will assit you in learning how to use the program, in developing a plan to make the Cogmed Working Memory Training a part of your routine and structure at home, so that it gets done optimally. Your coach will observe your progress form the trainig web results and call you at least once a week to discuss your training and problem solve any difficulties that may arise.
The training must be done for 30-45 minutes per day, three to four days per week for five weeks in succession. The entire training course is accomplished with 25 training sessions.
A Windows based PC is required with at access to the internet so that training
results can be uploaded to the Cogmed training site. This allows you and our Cogmed coaches who are working with you to see the results of each orf your training sessions. You can see your progress over time clearly in these data.
