Changing The Brain But How?
A couple of weeks ago, Cogmed, the people I do some work for, released results of study that show that Cogmed Working Memory Training changes the density of dopamine (D1 to be specific) receptors in the brain.
I was quite encouraged by this study, for a number of reasons, for one it would appear that the changes brought about by Cogmed Working Memory Training are probably longer lasting than what might be accomplished by medication. It would also seem to indicate that the process is quite complex and, although this was already more or less established by the researchers at Cogmed, the changes have some permanency.
In an interview on a podcast about the study on the Science site*, Torkel Klingberg, the developer of Cogmed, explained that either too much or too little dopamine is not good. He went on to explain that in many of the subjects the number of dopamine receptors was decreased and in a lesser number there was actually a small increase in the number.
It seems to me that what the training accomplishes is an adjustment in dopamine receptor density, the end result of which is an improvement in working memory. I know from my own reading that dopamine is the neurotransmitter that is made more available by stimulant medication. I take Ritalin to accomplish this. Why Cogmed training would decrease the number of dopamine receptors and end up making things work better is a mystery to me, as it would seem that this would make less dopamine available in the brain.
I do realize though that this thinking is just my response of trying to simplify something that is much more complicated than my self-education allows me to understand.
I will write again as the meaning of this study becomes clearer…
*http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;323/5915/800/DC2