scholarly journals Prioritizing relevant information in visual working memory sculpts neural representations in retinotopic cortex to reduce their uncertainty

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 244d
Author(s):  
Thomas C Sprague ◽  
Aspen H Yoo ◽  
Masih Rahmati ◽  
Grace E Hallenbeck ◽  
Wei Ji Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Neural Representations

scholarly journals Perturbing Neural Representations of Working Memory with Task-irrelevant Interruption

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 558-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Hakim ◽  
Tobias Feldmann-Wüstefeld ◽  
Edward Awh ◽  
Edward K. Vogel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Neural Signals ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Contralateral Delay Activity ◽  
The Face ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Impact

Working memory maintains information so that it can be used in complex cognitive tasks. A key challenge for this system is to maintain relevant information in the face of task-irrelevant perturbations. Across two experiments, we investigated the impact of task-irrelevant interruptions on neural representations of working memory. We recorded EEG activity in humans while they performed a working memory task. On a subset of trials, we interrupted participants with salient but task-irrelevant objects. To track the impact of these task-irrelevant interruptions on neural representations of working memory, we measured two well-characterized, temporally sensitive EEG markers that reflect active, prioritized working memory representations: the contralateral delay activity and lateralized alpha power (8–12 Hz). After interruption, we found that contralateral delay activity amplitude momentarily sustained but was gone by the end of the trial. Lateralized alpha power was immediately influenced by the interrupters but recovered by the end of the trial. This suggests that dissociable neural processes contribute to the maintenance of working memory information and that brief irrelevant onsets disrupt two distinct online aspects of working memory. In addition, we found that task expectancy modulated the timing and magnitude of how these two neural signals responded to task-irrelevant interruptions, suggesting that the brain's response to task-irrelevant interruption is shaped by task context.

scholarly journals Comparing the prioritisation of items and feature-dimensions in visual working memory

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasper E. Hajonides ◽  
Freek van Ede ◽  
Mark G. Stokes ◽  
Anna C. Nobre
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Recall Accuracy ◽  
Sensory Inputs ◽  
Item Level ◽  
Feature Based ◽  
Feature Dimension ◽  
Directing Attention

AbstractSelective attention can be directed not only to external sensory inputs, but also to internal sensory representations held within visual working memory (VWM). To date, this has been studied predominantly following retrospective cues directing attention to particular items, or their locations in memory. In addition to item-level attentional prioritisation, recent studies have shown that selectively attending to feature dimensions in VWM can also improve memory recall performance. However, no study to date has directly compared item-based and feature-based attention in VWM, nor their neural bases. Here, we compared the benefits of retrospective cues (retro-cues) that were directed either at a multi-feature item or at a feature-dimension that was shared between two spatially segregated items. Behavioural results revealed qualitatively similar attentional benefits in both recall accuracy and response time, but also showed that cueing benefits were larger following item cues. Concurrent EEG measurements further revealed a similar attenuation of posterior alpha oscillations following both item and feature retro-cues when compared to non-informative, neutral retro-cues. We argue that attention can act flexibly to prioritise the most relevant information – at either the item or the feature-level – to optimise ensuing memory-based task performance, and we discuss the implications of the observed commonalities and differences between item-level and feature-level prioritisation in VWM.

Interactions Between Visual Working Memory and Selective Attention

2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 467-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. Downing
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Selective Attention ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Sample Object ◽  
Probe Task ◽  
Specific Prediction ◽  
Memory Contents

The relationship between working memory and selective attention has traditionally been discussed as operating in one direction: Attention filters incoming information, allowing only relevant information into short-term processing stores. This study tested the prediction that the contents of visual working memory also influence the guidance of selective attention. Participants held a sample object in working memory on each trial. Two objects, one matching the sample and the other novel, were then presented simultaneously. As measured by a probe task, attention shifted to the object matching the sample. This effect generalized across object type, attentional-probe task, and working memory task. In contrast, a matched task with no memory requirement showed the opposite pattern, demonstrating that this effect is not simply due to exposure to the sample. These results confirm a specific prediction about the influence of working memory contents on the guidance of attention.

scholarly journals Perturbing neural representations of working memory with task-irrelevant interruption

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Hakim ◽  
Tobias Feldmann-Wüstefeld ◽  
Edward Awh ◽  
Edward K. Vogel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Task Context ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Neural Signatures

AbstractWorking memory maintains information so that it can be used in complex cognitive tasks. A key challenge for this system is to maintain relevant information in the face of task-irrelevant perturbations. In this series of experiments, we investigated the impact of task-irrelevant interruptions on neural representations of working memory. We recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) activity in humans while they performed a working memory task. On a subset of trials, we interrupted participants with salient, but task-irrelevant objects. To track the impact of these task-irrelevant interruptions on neural representations of working memory, we measured two well-characterized, temporally sensitive EEG markers that reflect active, prioritized working memory representations: the contralateral delay activity (CDA) and lateralized alpha power (8-12hz). Following interruption, we found that CDA momentarily sustained, but was gone by the end of the trial. Lateralized alpha power was immediately influenced by the interrupters, but recovered by the end of the trial. This suggests that dissociable neural processes contribute to the maintenance of working memory information. Additionally, we found that task expectancy modulated the timing and magnitude of how these two neural signals responded to task-irrelevant interruptions, suggesting that the brain’s response to task-irrelevant interruption is shaped by task context. The distinct time courses of and influence of task context on these two neural signatures of working memory have many interesting theoretical implications about how information is actively maintained in working memory.Significance statementWorking memory plays a central role in intelligent behaviors because it actively maintains relevant information that is easily accessible and manipulatable. In everyday life, we are often interrupted while performing such complex cognitive tasks. Therefore, understanding how working memory responds to and overcomes momentary task-irrelevant interruptions is critical for us to understand how complex cognition works. Here, we unveil how two distinct neural signatures of working memory respond to task-irrelevant interruptions by recording electroencephalogram activity in humans. Our findings raise long-standing theoretical questions about how different neural and cognitive processes contribute to the maintenance of information in working memory.

scholarly journals Visual working memory enhances neural representations of matching visual input

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 705
Author(s):  
Surya Gayet ◽  
Matthias Guggenmos ◽  
Thomas Christophel ◽  
John-Dylan Haynes ◽  
Chris Paffen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Visual Input ◽  
Neural Representations

scholarly journals Contralateral Delay Activity Indexes Working Memory Storage, Not the Current Focus of Spatial Attention

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 1185-1196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Feldmann-Wüstefeld ◽  
Edward K. Vogel ◽  
Edward Awh
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Alternative Interpretation ◽  
Memory Storage ◽  
Probe Display ◽  
Contralateral Delay Activity

Contralateral delay activity (CDA) has long been argued to track the number of items stored in visual working memory (WM). Recently, however, Berggren and Eimer [Berggren, N., & Eimer, M. Does contralateral delay activity reflect working memory storage or the current focus of spatial attention within visual working memory? Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 28, 2003–2020, 2016] proposed the alternative hypothesis that the CDA tracks the current focus of spatial attention instead of WM storage. This hypothesis was based on the finding that, when two successive arrays of memoranda were placed in opposite hemifields, CDA amplitude was primarily determined by the position and number of items in the second display, not the total memory load across both displays. Here, we considered the alternative interpretation that participants dropped the first array from WM when they encoded the second array because the format of the probe display was spatially incompatible with the initial sample display. In this case, even if the CDA indexes active storage rather than spatial attention, CDA activity would be determined by the second array. We tested this idea by directly manipulating the spatial compatibility of sample and probe displays. With spatially incompatible displays, we replicated Berggren and Eimer's findings. However, with spatially compatible displays, we found clear evidence that CDA activity tracked the full storage load across both arrays, in line with a WM storage account of CDA activity. We propose that expectations of display compatibility influenced whether participants viewed the arrays as parts of a single extended event or two independent episodes. Thus, these findings raise interesting new questions about how event boundaries may shape the interplay between passive and active representations of task-relevant information.

scholarly journals Different states of priority recruit different neural representations in visual working memory

PLoS Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. e3000769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing Yu ◽  
Chunyue Teng ◽  
Bradley R. Postle
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Neural Representations

Slow Wave Activity Related to Working Memory Maintenance in the N-Back Task

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 141-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kira Bailey ◽  
Gregory Mlynarczyk ◽  
Robert West
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Slow Wave ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Slow Wave Activity ◽  
Response Accuracy ◽  
Functional Neuroanatomy ◽  
Stimulus Interval ◽  
Back Task

Abstract. Working memory supports our ability to maintain goal-relevant information that guides cognition in the face of distraction or competing tasks. The N-back task has been widely used in cognitive neuroscience to examine the functional neuroanatomy of working memory. Fewer studies have capitalized on the temporal resolution of event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to examine the time course of neural activity in the N-back task. The primary goal of the current study was to characterize slow wave activity observed in the response-to-stimulus interval in the N-back task that may be related to maintenance of information between trials in the task. In three experiments, we examined the effects of N-back load, interference, and response accuracy on the amplitude of the P3b following stimulus onset and slow wave activity elicited in the response-to-stimulus interval. Consistent with previous research, the amplitude of the P3b decreased as N-back load increased. Slow wave activity over the frontal and posterior regions of the scalp was sensitive to N-back load and was insensitive to interference or response accuracy. Together these findings lead to the suggestion that slow wave activity observed in the response-to-stimulus interval is related to the maintenance of information between trials in the 1-back task.

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