scholarly journals Maintaining fixation does not increase demands on working memory relative to free viewing

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Armson ◽  
Jennifer D. Ryan ◽  
Brian Levine
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Oculomotor System ◽  
Finger Tapping ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Free Viewing

The comparison of memory performance during free and fixed viewing conditions has been used to demonstrate the involvement of eye movements in memory encoding and retrieval, with stronger effects at encoding than retrieval. Relative to conditions of free viewing, participants generally show reduced memory performance following sustained fixation, suggesting that unrestricted eye movements benefit memory. However, the cognitive basis of the memory reduction during fixed viewing is uncertain, with possible mechanisms including disruption of visual-mnemonic and/or imagery processes with sustained fixation, or greater working memory demands required for fixed relative to free viewing. To investigate one possible mechanism for this reduction, we had participants perform a working memory task—an auditory n-back task—during free and fixed viewing, as well as a repetitive finger tapping condition, included to isolate the effects of motor interference independent of the oculomotor system. As expected, finger tapping significantly interfered with n-back performance relative to free viewing, as indexed by a decrease in accuracy and increase in response times. By contrast, there was no evidence that fixed viewing interfered with n-back performance relative to free viewing. Our findings failed to support a hypothesis of increased working memory load during fixation. They are consistent with the notion that fixation disrupts long-term memory performance through interference with visual processes.

scholarly journals Contralateral Delay Activity Tracks Fluctuations in Working Memory Performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (9) ◽  
pp. 1229-1240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten C. S. Adam ◽  
Matthew K. Robison ◽  
Edward K. Vogel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Memory Storage ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Contralateral Delay Activity ◽  
Trial Performance

Neural measures of working memory storage, such as the contralateral delay activity (CDA), are powerful tools in working memory research. CDA amplitude is sensitive to working memory load, reaches an asymptote at known behavioral limits, and predicts individual differences in capacity. An open question, however, is whether neural measures of load also track trial-by-trial fluctuations in performance. Here, we used a whole-report working memory task to test the relationship between CDA amplitude and working memory performance. If working memory failures are due to decision-based errors and retrieval failures, CDA amplitude would not differentiate good and poor performance trials when load is held constant. If failures arise during storage, then CDA amplitude should track both working memory load and trial-by-trial performance. As expected, CDA amplitude tracked load (Experiment 1), reaching an asymptote at three items. In Experiment 2, we tracked fluctuations in trial-by-trial performance. CDA amplitude was larger (more negative) for high-performance trials compared with low-performance trials, suggesting that fluctuations in performance were related to the successful storage of items. During working memory failures, participants oriented their attention to the correct side of the screen (lateralized P1) and maintained covert attention to the correct side during the delay period (lateralized alpha power suppression). Despite the preservation of attentional orienting, we found impairments consistent with an executive attention theory of individual differences in working memory capacity; fluctuations in executive control (indexed by pretrial frontal theta power) may be to blame for storage failures.

scholarly journals Learning to suppress a distractor is not affected by working memory load

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya Gao ◽  
Jan Theeuwes
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
High Probability ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Automatic Process ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Statistical Regularities

AbstractWhere and what we attend to is not only determined by our current goals but also by what we have encountered in the past. Recent studies have shown that people learn to extract statistical regularities in the environment resulting in attentional suppression of high-probability distractor locations, effectively reducing capture by a distractor. Here, we asked whether this statistical learning is dependent on working memory resources. The additional singleton task in which one location was more likely to contain a distractor was combined with a concurrent visual working memory task (Experiment 1) and a spatial working memory task (Experiment 2). The result showed that learning to suppress this high-probability location was not at all affected by working memory load. We conclude that learning to suppress a location is an implicit and automatic process that does not rely on visual or spatial working memory capacity, nor on executive control resources. We speculate that extracting regularities from the environment likely relies on long-term memory processes.

scholarly journals Is Long-Term Memory Used in a Visuo-Spatial Change-Detection Paradigm?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Goecke ◽  
Klaus Oberauer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Change Detection ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Repetition Effect ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Memory Representation ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Hebb Repetition Effect

In tests of working memory with verbal or spatial materials repeating the same memory sets across trials leads to improved memory performance. This well-established “Hebb repetition effect” could not be shown for visual materials. This absence of the Hebb effect can be explained in two ways: Either persons fail to acquire a long-term memory representation of the repeated memory sets, or they acquire such long-term memory representations, but fail to use them during the working memory task. In two experiments, (N1 = 18 and N2 = 30), we aimed to decide between these two possibilities by manipulating the long-term memory knowledge of some of the memory sets used in a change-detection task. Before the change-detection test, participants learned three arrays of colors to criterion. The subsequent change-detection test contained both previously learned and new color arrays. Change detection performance was better on previously learned compared to new arrays, showing that long-term memory is used in change detection.

scholarly journals Is long-term memory used in a visuo-spatial change-detection paradigm?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Goecke ◽  
Klaus Oberauer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Change Detection ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Repetition Effect ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Memory Representation ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Hebb Repetition Effect

AbstractIn tests of working memory with verbal or spatial materials, repeating the same memory sets across trials leads to improved memory performance. This well-established “Hebb repetition effect” could not be shown for visual materials in previous research. The absence of the Hebb effect can be explained in two ways: Either persons fail to acquire a long-term memory representation of the repeated memory sets, or they acquire such long-term memory representations, but fail to use them during the working memory task. In two experiments (N1 = 18 and N2 = 30), we aimed to decide between these two possibilities by manipulating the long-term memory knowledge of some of the memory sets used in a change-detection task. Before the change-detection test, participants learned three arrays of colors to criterion. The subsequent change-detection test contained both previously learned and new color arrays. Change detection performance was better on previously learned compared with new arrays, showing that long-term memory is used in change detection.

scholarly journals Polygenic risk for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) predicts brain response during working memory task in OCD, unaffected relatives, and healthy controls

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Heinzel ◽  
Christian Kaufmann ◽  
Rosa Grützmann ◽  
Julia Klawohn ◽  
Anja Riesel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Polygenic Risk ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
First Degree Relatives

AbstractAlterations in frontal and parietal neural activations during working memory task performance have been suggested as a candidate endophenotype of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in studies involving first-degree relatives. However, the direct link between genetic risk for OCD and neuro-functional alterations during working memory performance has not been investigated to date. Thus, the aim of the current functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was to test the direct association between polygenic risk for OCD and neural activity during the performance of a numeric n-back task with four working memory load conditions in 128 participants, including patients with OCD, unaffected first-degree relatives of OCD patients, and healthy controls. Behavioral results show a significant performance deficit at high working memory load in both patients with OCD and first-degree relatives (p < 0.05). A whole-brain analysis of the fMRI data indicated decreased neural activity in bilateral inferior parietal lobule and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in both patients and relatives. Most importantly, OCD polygenic risk scores predicted neural activity in orbitofrontal cortex. Results indicate that genetic risk for OCD can partly explain alterations in brain response during working memory performance, supporting the notion of a neuro-functional endophenotype for OCD.

scholarly journals Positivity Effect and Working Memory Performance Remains Intact in Older Adults After Sleep Deprivation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Gerhardsson ◽  
Håkan Fischer ◽  
Mats Lekander ◽  
Göran Kecklund ◽  
John Axelsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Sleep Deprivation ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Positivity Effect ◽  
As Stress ◽  
Positive Stimuli

Background: Older adults perform better in tasks which include positive stimuli, referred to as the positivity effect. However, recent research suggests that the positivity effect could be attenuated when additional challenges such as stress or cognitive demands are introduced. Moreover, it is well established that older adults are relatively resilient to many of the adverse effects of sleep deprivation. Our aim was to investigate if the positivity effect in older adults is affected by one night of total sleep deprivation using an emotional working memory task. Methods: A healthy sample of 48 older adults (60-72 years) was either sleep deprived for one night (n = 24) or had a normal night’s sleep (n = 24). They performed an emotional working memory n-back (n = 1 &amp; 3) task containing positive, negative and neutral pictures. Results: Performance in terms of accuracy and reaction times was best for positive stimuli and worst for negative stimuli. This positivity effect was not altered by sleep deprivation. Results also showed that, despite significantly increased sleepiness, there was no effect of sleep deprivation on working memory performance. A working memory load × valence interaction on the reaction times revealed that the beneficial effect of positive stimuli was only present in the 1-back condition. Conclusion: While the positivity effect and general working memory abilities in older adults are intact after one night of sleep deprivation, increased cognitive demand attenuates the positivity effect on working memory speed.

scholarly journals Visual and verbal working memory loads interfere with scene viewing

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Cronin ◽  
Candace Elise Peacock ◽  
John M. Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Visual Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Scene Viewing

Working memory is thought to be divided into distinct visual and verbal subsystems. Studies of visual working memory frequently use verbal working memory tasks as control conditions and/or use articulatory suppression to ensure visual load remains in visual memory. Using these verbal tasks relies on the assumption that the verbal working memory load will not interfere with the same processes as visual working memory. In the present study, participants maintained a visual or verbal working memory load while simultaneously viewing scenes. Because eye movements and visual working memory are closely linked, we anticipated the visual load would interfere with scene viewing (and vice versa), while the verbal load would not. Surprisingly, both visual and verbal memory loads interfered with scene viewing behavior, while scene viewing did not significantly interfere with performance on either memory task. These results suggest that a verbal working memory load can interfere with a visual task and contribute to the growing literature suggesting the visual and verbal subsystems of working memory are less distinct than previously thought. Our data also stands at odds with previous work suggesting that visual working memory is obligatorily recruited by saccadic eye movements.

scholarly journals Visual Long-term Memory Can Replace Active Maintenance in Visual Working Memory

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark W. Schurgin ◽  
Corbin A. Cunningham ◽  
Howard E. Egeth ◽  
Timothy F. Brady
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Perceptual Information ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Perceptual Interference ◽  
New Information ◽  
Memory Representations

AbstractHumans have remarkable visual long-term memory abilities, capable of storing thousands of objects with significant detail. However, it remains unknown how such memory is utilized during the short-term maintenance of information. Specifically, if people have a previously encoded memory for an item, how does this affect subsequent working memory for that same item? Here, we demonstrate people can quickly and accurately make use of visual long-term memories and therefore maintain less perceptual information actively in working memory. We assessed how much perceptual information is actively maintained in working memory by measuring neural activity during the delay period of a working memory task using electroencephalography. We find that despite maintaining less perceptual information in working memory when long-term memory representations are available, there is no decrement in memory performance. This suggests under certain circumstances people can dynamically disengage working memory maintenance and instead use long-term memories when available. However, this does not mean participants always utilize long-term memory. In a follow-up experiment, we introduced additional perceptual interference into working memory and found participants actively maintained items in working memory even when they had existing long-term memories available. These results clarify the kinds of conditions under which long-term and working memory operate. Specifically, working memory is engaged when new information is encountered or perceptual interference is high. Visual long-term memory may otherwise be rapidly accessed and utilized in lieu of active perceptual maintenance. These data demonstrate the interactions between working memory and long-term memory are more dynamic and fluid than previously thought.

scholarly journals Single-Item and Associative Working Memory in Stroke Patients

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie van Geldorp ◽  
Roy P. C. Kessels ◽  
Marc P. H. Hendriks
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Medial Temporal Lobe ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Stroke Patients ◽  
Binding Condition ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Single Feature

In this study, we examined working memory performance of stroke patients. A previous study assessing amnesia patients found deficits on an associative working memory task, although standard neuropsychological working memory tests did not detect any deficits. We now examine whether this may be the case for stoke patients as well. The current task contained three conditions: one spatial condition, one object condition and one binding condition in which both object and location had to be remembered. In addition, subsequent long-term memory was assessed. The results indicate that our sample of stroke patients shows a working memory deficit, but only on the single-feature conditions. The binding condition was more difficult than both single-feature conditions, but patients performed equally well as compared to matched healthy controls. No deficits were found on the subsequent long-term memory task. These results suggest that associative working memory may be mediated by structures of the medial temporal lobe.

scholarly journals The influence of long-term memory on working memory: Age-differences in proactive facilitation and interference

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Rhodes ◽  
Bradley Buchsbaum ◽  
Lynn Hasher
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Proactive Interference ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Prior Learning ◽  
New Information ◽  
Stimulus Materials

Prior learning can hinder subsequent memory, especially when there is conflict between old and new information. The ability to handle this proactive interference is an important source of differences in memory performance between younger and older participants. In younger participants, Oberauer et al. (2017) report evidence of proactive facilitation from previously learned information in a working memory task in the absence of proactive interference between long-term and working memory. In the present work we examine the generality of these findings to different stimulus materials and to older adults. Participants first learned image-word associations and then completed an image-word working memory task. Some pairs were the same as those initially learned, for which we expected facilitation relative to previously unencountered pairs. Other pairs were made up of previously learned elements in different combinations, for which we might expect interference. Younger and older participants showed similar levels of facilitation from previously learned associations relative to new pairs. In addition, older participants exhibited proactive interference from long-term to working memory, whereas younger participants exhibited facilitation, even for pairings that conflict with those learned earlier in the experiment. These findings confirm older adults' susceptibility to proactive interference and we discuss the theoretical implications of younger adults’ apparent immunity to interference.

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