Cognitive enhancement: a comparative review of computerized and athletic training programs

Abstract

Cognitive enhancement refers to any type of improvement in cognitive performance following targeted interventions. Cognitive training is a rapidly growing market with potential to further expand in the future. Several computerized software programs promoting cognitive enhancement have been developed in recent years, with controversial results and implications. Within the research field, advances have been made regarding our understanding of the benefits inherent to cognitive programs, mainly involving working memory mechanisms and videogame training paradigms. In a distinct literature, physical exercise has been shown to broadly enhance cognitive functions, in humans and animals. In this article, we bring together these two trends of research in a comparative review, leading the discussion to an emerging third approach: designed sports training. Specifically designed sports, which tax working memory and spatial ability by incorporating motion in three-dimensional space, are an optimal way to combine the benefits of traditional cognitive training and physical exercise into a single activity. We discuss these findings in the context of embodied cognition, and argue that sensorimotor learning in designed sports is a key mechanism linking training and cognitive enhancement.

Keywords:

• cognitive enhancement
• working memory training
• videogame training
• physical exercise
• embodied cognition