Cogmed is a cognitive training

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

program created in the lab of Torkel Klingberg, a neuroscientist at the

Karolinska Institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led Medical school, medical university in Solna Municipality, Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. ...

. Dr. Klingberg was using it to present

working memory Working memory is a cognitive system with a limited capacity that can hold information temporarily. It is important for reasoning and the guidance of decision-making and behavior. Working memory is often used synonymously with short-term memory, ...

challenges to people while he studied their brains using

fMRI Functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI (fMRI) measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow. This technique relies on the fact that cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation are coupled. When an area ...

, to try to learn about

neuroplasticity Neuroplasticity, also known as neural plasticity, or brain plasticity, is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization. It is when the brain is rewired to function in some way that differs from how it p ...

. When the studies appeared to show that the challenges improved working memory, Klingberg founded Cogmed in 2001, with financial backing from the Karolinska Institute and venture capitalists. Cogmed's initial marketing was focused on helping people with

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inap ...

and expanded to other impairments of working memory, such as persons with learning disabilities, and people who had a stroke or other traumatic brain injury. In 2010, Cogmed was purchased by Pearson Education and became a part of the Pearson Clinical Assessment Group. Karolinska received 22 m SEK and double-digit royalties as part of the transaction. In 2019, Cogmed was transferred back to the original founders. A 2012 meta-analysis of 23 research studies on seven different commercial and non-commercial working memory training techniques (including Cogmed) found that "working memory training programs give only near-transfer effects, and there is no convincing evidence that even such near-transfer effects are durable." Another 2012 review of Cogmed found that many of the problem-solving or training tasks presented in Cogmed are not related to working memory, that many of the attention tasks are unrelated to ADHD, and that there is limited transfer to real-life manifestations of attention deficits, concluding "The only unequivocal statement that can be made is that Cogmed will improve performance on tasks that resemble Cogmed training." In the years following, several independent research groups have published studies supporting the original findings, and showing that Cogmed improves working memory and attention in children with ADHD, children post cancer treatment, and stroke patients. The largest Cogmed study to date(a randomized, controlled trial by independent researchers, including close to 600 typically developing children) found that Cogmed training led to improvements in “geometry skills, reading skills, Raven’s fluid IQ measure, the ability to inhibit prepotent impulses and self-regulation abilities”. The study also found that, “3–4 years after the intervention, the children who received training ada roughly 16 percentage points higher probability of entering the academic track in secondary school”. The company's marketing efforts have been described in popular media. A 2013 article in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' magazine said that brain training games are "bogus." A later review in PNAS argued that the question “does cognitive training work” is similar to asking “does medicine cure disease”, and suggested that in order to determine the validity of the question, one needs to specify which type of cognitive training, for which group and for which purpose.

References

External links

Company website
{{Brain training programs Swedish companies established in 2001 Software companies established in 2001 Health care companies established in 2001 Brain training programs Medical technology companies of Sweden Software companies of Sweden Pearson plc Companies based in Stockholm

See also

References

External links