Can You Train Working Memory Long Term?

The debate: optimists vs. skeptics

In 2014, a group of 73 neuroscientists and psychologists signed an open letter criticizing commercial brain training companies for making claims that outstripped the evidence. This letter was widely interpreted as a consensus that working memory training "doesn't work." In 2017, another group of 133 scientists signed a rebuttal letter, arguing the dismissal was premature and that substantial evidence for WM training benefits existed.

Both groups were right — and both were talking past each other. The 2014 letter was correct that commercial brain training apps do not produce robust far-transfer to novel cognitive tasks in healthy adults. The 2017 letter was correct that there are specific conditions, populations, and training approaches under which genuine WM improvements — including far-transfer — are reproducible. The evidence base is now large enough to map these conditions clearly. You can track your own progress over time using the Sequence Memory test as a benchmark.

The honest verdict (as of 2026)

✓Working memory can be improved through targeted training
✓Near-transfer is robust and reliable (d=0.7–1.0)
✓Far-transfer is real but smaller and more condition-dependent (d=0.3–0.5)
✓Lifestyle interventions (exercise, sleep) produce the most generalizable improvements
✗Commercial brain training apps do not produce robust far-transfer in healthy young adults
✗Gains from most cognitive training programs fade within 6–12 months without maintenance

Three routes to genuine long-term improvement

Route 1: Domain expertise accumulation

Strongest long-term evidence

The most durable and robust form of WM improvement is domain expertise. Chess grandmasters, surgeons, and musicians show consistently superior working memory in their domain — and this advantage persists for decades because the chunk library stored in long-term memory is constantly refreshed through practice. This form of WM improvement does not decay because it is supported by long-term memory, not just working memory. The practical implication: the best way to improve WM in a given domain is deep, deliberate practice in that domain — not generic WM training.

Route 2: Lifestyle biological optimization

Strongest general-transfer evidence

Sustained aerobic exercise is the single intervention with the strongest evidence for genuine, durable, generalizable WM improvement in healthy adults. 6-month longitudinal studies show sustained WM gains in exercising groups that are maintained at 12-month follow-up — unlike cognitive training gains, which typically fade. The biological mechanisms (preserved hippocampal volume, enhanced BDNF, maintained cerebrovascular health) create structural brain changes that do not reverse when exercise is maintained. Details are in our guide on daily habits for stronger working memory.

Route 3: Targeted strategy training (especially in children)

Moderate evidence, age-dependent

Explicit instruction in chunking, rehearsal, and organizational strategies produces the most durable cognitive training gains — particularly in children ages 7–12, where strategy instruction targets a genuine skill gap rather than a capacity ceiling. Adults who learn strategies show durable benefits (because strategies are stored in long-term memory), while adults who rely on repetitive WM training without strategy development show faster decay. This explains why interventions focused on "teaching to learn" outperform those focused on "exercising the brain."

How long do gains last?

Intervention	6-month retention	12-month retention	Condition for persistence
Aerobic exercise (sustained)	Full effect	Full effect	Continued exercise
Domain expertise	Full effect	Full effect	Continued practice
Strategy training (children)	~80% retained	~70% retained	Some maintenance needed
Dual n-back training	~60% retained	~40% retained	Maintenance sessions needed
Commercial brain training	~30% retained	~10–20% retained	Continued app use required

This durability pattern reveals a key principle: gains that are supported by biological or structural changes (exercise, expertise) are inherently more durable than gains that rely on maintained practice of a specific cognitive task. When you stop practicing, task-specific gains fade; when you continue exercising, exercise-induced gains persist.

Practical bottom line

The best long-term WM training program is: (1) sustained aerobic exercise as the biological foundation, (2) deep deliberate practice in your professional/academic domain for domain-specific gains, and (3) strategy training (chunking, rehearsal) for test-visible improvements. Cognitive training exercises like dual n-back are a useful supplement but not a replacement for the first two. Compare your progress periodically on tests like Sequence Memory and Number Memory.

Who benefits most from WM training

The magnitude of cognitive training benefits is reliably larger for populations with specific WM deficits or constraints — children with learning disabilities, older adults experiencing age-related decline, individuals with ADHD, and people recovering from brain injury or stroke. For healthy young adults with average-to-high WM capacity, the gains are real but smaller and more dependent on the quality of the training intervention.

Older adults (55+)

Largest benefits

Older adults show consistently larger WM training gains than younger adults in meta-analyses, and the gains transfer more broadly. The reason is that older adults have more "low-hanging fruit" — their WM decline reflects disuse and lifestyle factors more than irreversible structural aging. For adults over 55, the exercise-WM relationship described in our daily habits guide is particularly powerful, with aerobic exercise consistently producing WM gains equivalent to reversing 5–10 years of age-related decline.

The age-related context is explored further in our article on working memory in children vs adults, while the long-term academic implications are covered in our piece on working memory and academic performance.