scholarly journals The speed of parietal theta frequency drives visuospatial working memory capacity

PLoS Biology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e2005348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Wolinski ◽  
Nicholas R. Cooper ◽  
Paul Sauseng ◽  
Vincenzo Romei
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Theta Frequency

scholarly journals Age-Related Declines in Visuospatial Working Memory Correlate With Deficits in Explicit Motor Sequence Learning

2009 ◽  
Vol 102 (5) ◽  
pp. 2744-2754 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bo ◽  
V. Borza ◽  
R. D. Seidler
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Sequence Learning ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Motor Sequence Learning ◽  
Motor Sequence ◽  
Age Related

Numerous studies have shown that older adults exhibit deficits in motor sequence learning, but the mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. Our recent work has shown that visuospatial working-memory capacity predicts the rate of motor sequence learning and the length of motor chunks formed during explicit sequence learning in young adults. In the current study, we evaluate whether age-related deficits in working memory explain the reduced rate of motor sequence learning in older adults. We found that older adults exhibited a correlation between visuospatial working-memory capacity and motor sequence chunk length, as we observed previously in young adults. In addition, older adults exhibited an overall reduction in both working-memory capacity and motor chunk length compared with that of young adults. However, individual variations in visuospatial working-memory capacity did not correlate with the rate of learning in older adults. These results indicate that working memory declines with age at least partially explain age-related differences in explicit motor sequence learning.

scholarly journals Visuospatial Working Memory Capacity Predicts the Organization of Acquired Explicit Motor Sequences

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (6) ◽  
pp. 3116-3125 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bo ◽  
R. D. Seidler
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Sequence Learning ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Temporal Organization ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Temporal Control ◽  
Motor Sequence Learning ◽  
Motor Sequence ◽  
Timing Task

Studies have suggested that cognitive processes such as working memory and temporal control contribute to motor sequence learning. These processes engage overlapping brain regions with sequence learning, but concrete evidence has been lacking. In this study, we determined whether limits in visuospatial working memory capacity and temporal control abilities affect the temporal organization of explicitly acquired motor sequences. Participants performed an explicit sequence learning task, a visuospatial working memory task, and a continuous tapping timing task. We found that visuospatial working memory capacity, but not the CV from the timing task, correlated with the rate of motor sequence learning and the chunking pattern observed in the learned sequence. These results show that individual differences in short-term visuospatial working memory capacity, but not temporal control, predict the temporal structure of explicitly acquired motor sequences.

Increased Brain Activity in Frontal and Parietal Cortex Underlies the Development of Visuospatial Working Memory Capacity during Childhood

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torkel Klingberg ◽  
Hans Forssberg ◽  
Helena Westerberg
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Baseline Task

The aim of this study was to identify changes in brain activity associated with the increase in working memory (WM) capacity that occurs during childhood and early adulthood. Functional MRI (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity in subjects between 9 and 18 years of age while they performed a visuospatial WM task and a baseline task. During performance of the WM task, the older children showed higher activation of cortex in the superior frontal and intraparietal cortex than the younger children did. A second analysis found that WM capacity was significantly correlated with brain activity in the same regions. These frontal and parietal areas are known to be involved in the control of attention and spatial WM. The development of the functionality in these areas may play an important role in cognitive development during childhood.

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