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Degutis JK, Chaimow D, Haenelt D, Assem M, Duncan J, Haynes JD, Weiskopf N, Lorenz R. Dynamic layer-specific processing in the prefrontal cortex during working memory. Commun Biol 2024; 7:1140. [PMID: 39277694 PMCID: PMC11401931 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06780-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/26/2024] [Indexed: 09/17/2024] Open
Abstract
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) is reliably engaged in working memory (WM) and comprises different cytoarchitectonic layers, yet their functional role in human WM is unclear. Here, participants completed a delayed-match-to-sample task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at ultra-high resolution. We examine layer-specific activity to manipulations in WM load and motor response. Superficial layers exhibit a preferential response to WM load during the delay and retrieval periods of a WM task, indicating a lamina-specific activation of the frontoparietal network. Multivariate patterns encoding WM load in the superficial layer dynamically change across the three periods of the task. Last, superficial and deep layers are non-differentially involved in the motor response, challenging earlier findings of a preferential deep layer activation. Taken together, our results provide new insights into the functional laminar circuitry of the dlPFC during WM and support a dynamic account of dlPFC coding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas Karolis Degutis
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin and Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of the Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
- Max Planck School of Cognition, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Denis Chaimow
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Daniel Haenelt
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Moataz Assem
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - John Duncan
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - John-Dylan Haynes
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin and Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of the Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
- Max Planck School of Cognition, Leipzig, Germany
- Research Training Group "Extrospection" and Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Research Cluster of Excellence "Science of Intelligence", Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Collaborative Research Center "Volition and Cognitive Control", Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Nikolaus Weiskopf
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Felix Bloch Institute for Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Romy Lorenz
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany.
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Duan Z, Curtis CE. Visual working memories are abstractions of percepts. eLife 2024; 13:RP94191. [PMID: 38819426 PMCID: PMC11147505 DOI: 10.7554/elife.94191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2024] Open
Abstract
During perception, decoding the orientation of gratings depends on complex interactions between the orientation of the grating, aperture edges, and topographic structure of the visual map. Here, we aimed to test how aperture biases described during perception affect working memory (WM) decoding. For memoranda, we used gratings multiplied by radial and angular modulators to generate orthogonal aperture biases for identical orientations. Therefore, if WM representations are simply maintained sensory representations, they would have similar aperture biases. If they are abstractions of sensory features, they would be unbiased and the modulator would have no effect on orientation decoding. Neural patterns of delay period activity while maintaining the orientation of gratings with one modulator (e.g. radial) were interchangeable with patterns while maintaining gratings with the other modulator (e.g. angular) in visual and parietal cortex, suggesting that WM representations are insensitive to aperture biases during perception. Then, we visualized memory abstractions of stimuli using models of visual field map properties. Regardless of aperture biases, WM representations of both modulated gratings were recoded into a single oriented line. These results provide strong evidence that visual WM representations are abstractions of percepts, immune to perceptual aperture biases, and compel revisions of WM theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziyi Duan
- Department of Psychology, New York UniversityNew YorkUnited States
| | - Clayton E Curtis
- Department of Psychology, New York UniversityNew YorkUnited States
- Center for Neural Science, New York UniversityNew YorkUnited States
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3
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Inguscio BMS, Cartocci G, Sciaraffa N, Nicastri M, Giallini I, Aricò P, Greco A, Babiloni F, Mancini P. Two are better than one: Differences in cortical EEG patterns during auditory and visual verbal working memory processing between Unilateral and Bilateral Cochlear Implanted children. Hear Res 2024; 446:109007. [PMID: 38608331 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2024.109007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2023] [Revised: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
Despite the proven effectiveness of cochlear implant (CI) in the hearing restoration of deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) children, to date, extreme variability in verbal working memory (VWM) abilities is observed in both unilateral and bilateral CI user children (CIs). Although clinical experience has long observed deficits in this fundamental executive function in CIs, the cause to date is still unknown. Here, we have set out to investigate differences in brain functioning regarding the impact of monaural and binaural listening in CIs compared with normal hearing (NH) peers during a three-level difficulty n-back task undertaken in two sensory modalities (auditory and visual). The objective of this pioneering study was to identify electroencephalographic (EEG) marker pattern differences in visual and auditory VWM performances in CIs compared to NH peers and possible differences between unilateral cochlear implant (UCI) and bilateral cochlear implant (BCI) users. The main results revealed differences in theta and gamma EEG bands. Compared with hearing controls and BCIs, UCIs showed hypoactivation of theta in the frontal area during the most complex condition of the auditory task and a correlation of the same activation with VWM performance. Hypoactivation in theta was also observed, again for UCIs, in the left hemisphere when compared to BCIs and in the gamma band in UCIs compared to both BCIs and NHs. For the latter two, a correlation was found between left hemispheric gamma oscillation and performance in the audio task. These findings, discussed in the light of recent research, suggest that unilateral CI is deficient in supporting auditory VWM in DHH. At the same time, bilateral CI would allow the DHH child to approach the VWM benchmark for NH children. The present study suggests the possible effectiveness of EEG in supporting, through a targeted approach, the diagnosis and rehabilitation of VWM in DHH children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bianca Maria Serena Inguscio
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, Rome 00161, Italy; BrainSigns Srl, Via Tirso, 14, Rome 00198, Italy.
| | - Giulia Cartocci
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, Rome 00161, Italy; BrainSigns Srl, Via Tirso, 14, Rome 00198, Italy
| | | | - Maria Nicastri
- Department of Sense Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 31, Rome 00161, Italy
| | - Ilaria Giallini
- Department of Sense Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 31, Rome 00161, Italy
| | - Pietro Aricò
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, Rome 00161, Italy; BrainSigns Srl, Via Tirso, 14, Rome 00198, Italy; Department of Computer, Control, and Management Engineering "Antonio Ruberti", Sapienza University of Rome, Via Ariosto 125, Rome 00185, Italy
| | - Antonio Greco
- Department of Sense Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 31, Rome 00161, Italy
| | - Fabio Babiloni
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, Rome 00161, Italy; BrainSigns Srl, Via Tirso, 14, Rome 00198, Italy; Department of Computer Science, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Xiasha Higher Education Zone, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Patrizia Mancini
- Department of Sense Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale dell'Università 31, Rome 00161, Italy
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Woodry R, Curtis CE, Winawer J. Feedback scales the spatial tuning of cortical responses during visual memory. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.11.589111. [PMID: 38659957 PMCID: PMC11042180 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.11.589111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Perception, working memory, and long-term memory each evoke neural responses in visual cortex, suggesting that memory uses encoding mechanisms shared with perception. While previous research has largely focused on how perception and memory are similar, we hypothesized that responses in visual cortex would differ depending on the origins of the inputs. Using fMRI, we quantified spatial tuning in visual cortex while participants (both sexes) viewed, maintained in working memory, or retrieved from long-term memory a peripheral target. In each of these conditions, BOLD responses were spatially tuned and were aligned with the target's polar angle in all measured visual field maps including V1. As expected given the increasing sizes of receptive fields, polar angle tuning during perception increased in width systematically up the visual hierarchy from V1 to V2, V3, hV4, and beyond. In stark contrast, the widths of tuned responses were broad across the visual hierarchy during working memory and long-term memory, matched to the widths in perception in later visual field maps but much broader in V1. This pattern is consistent with the idea that mnemonic responses in V1 stem from top-down sources. Moreover, these tuned responses when biased (clockwise or counterclockwise of target) predicted matched biases in memory, suggesting that the readout of maintained and reinstated mnemonic responses influences memory guided behavior. We conclude that feedback constrains spatial tuning during memory, where earlier visual maps inherit broader tuning from later maps thereby impacting the precision of memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Woodry
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York City, NY 10003
| | - Clayton E. Curtis
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York City, NY 10003
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York City, NY 10003
| | - Jonathan Winawer
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York City, NY 10003
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York City, NY 10003
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Shi D, Yu Q. Distinct neural signatures underlying information maintenance and manipulation in working memory. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae063. [PMID: 38436467 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2023] [Revised: 02/04/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Previous working memory research has demonstrated robust stimulus representations during memory maintenance in both voltage and alpha-band activity in electroencephalography. However, the exact functions of these 2 neural signatures have remained controversial. Here we systematically investigated their respective contributions to memory manipulation. Human participants either maintained a previously seen spatial location, or manipulated the location following a mental rotation cue over a delay. Using multivariate decoding, we observed robust location representations in low-frequency voltage and alpha-band oscillatory activity with distinct spatiotemporal dynamics: location representations were most evident in posterior channels in alpha-band activity, but were most prominent in the more anterior, central channels in voltage signals. Moreover, the temporal emergence of manipulated representation in central voltage preceded that in posterior alpha-band activity, suggesting that voltage might carry stimulus-specific source signals originated internally from anterior cortex, whereas alpha-band activity might reflect feedback signals in posterior cortex received from higher-order cortex. Lastly, while location representations in both signals were coded in a low-dimensional neural subspace, location representation in central voltage was higher-dimensional and underwent a representational transformation that exclusively predicted memory behavior. Together, these results highlight the crucial role of central voltage in working memory, and support functional distinctions between voltage and alpha-band activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongping Shi
- Institute of Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Brain Cognition and Brain-inspired Intelligence Technology, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Qing Yu
- Institute of Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Brain Cognition and Brain-inspired Intelligence Technology, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
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Duan Z, Curtis CE. Visual working memories are abstractions of percepts. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.12.01.569634. [PMID: 38076859 PMCID: PMC10705465 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.01.569634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2023]
Abstract
Pioneering studies demonstrating that the contents of visual working memory (WM) can be decoded from the patterns of multivoxel activity in early visual cortex transformed not only how we study WM, but theories of how memories are stored. For instance, the ability to decode the orientation of memorized gratings is hypothesized to depend on the recruitment of the same neural encoding machinery used for perceiving orientations. However, decoding evidence cannot be used to test the so-called sensory recruitment hypothesis without understanding the underlying nature of what is being decoded. Although unknown during WM, during perception decoding the orientation of gratings does not simply depend on activities of orientation tuned neurons. Rather, it depends on complex interactions between the orientation of the grating, the aperture edges, and the topographic structure of the visual map. Here, our goals are to 1) test how these aperture biases described during perception may affect WM decoding, and 2) leverage carefully manipulated visual stimulus properties of gratings to test how sensory-like are WM codes. For memoranda, we used gratings multiplied by radial and angular modulators to generate orthogonal aperture biases despite having identical orientations. Therefore, if WM representations are simply maintained sensory representations, they would have similar aperture biases. If they are abstractions of sensory features, they would be unbiased and the modulator would have no effect on orientation decoding. Results indicated that fMRI patterns of delay period activity while maintaining the orientation of a grating with one modulator (eg, radial) were interchangeable with patterns while maintaining a grating with the other modulator (eg, angular). We found significant cross-classification in visual and parietal cortex, suggesting that WM representations are insensitive to aperture biases during perception. Then, we visualized memory abstractions of stimuli using a population receptive field model of the visual field maps. Regardless of aperture biases, WM representations of both modulated gratings were recoded into a single oriented line. These results provide strong evidence that visual WM representations are abstractions of percepts, immune to perceptual aperture biases, and compel revisions of WM theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziyi Duan
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Clayton E Curtis
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
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