1
|
Walcher S, Korda Ž, Körner C, Benedek M. How workload and availability of spatial reference shape eye movement coupling in visuospatial working memory. Cognition 2024; 249:105815. [PMID: 38761645 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2023] [Revised: 03/27/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 05/20/2024]
Abstract
Eyes are active in memory recall and visual imagination, yet our grasp of the underlying qualities and factors of these internally coupled eye movements is limited. To explore this, we studied 50 participants, examining how workload, spatial reference availability, and imagined movement direction influence internal coupling of eye movements. We designed a visuospatial working memory task in which participants mentally moved a black patch along a path within a matrix and each trial involved one step along this path (presented via speakers: up, down, left, or right). We varied workload by adjusting matrix size (3 × 3 vs. 5 × 5), manipulated availability of a spatial frame of reference by presenting either a blank screen (requiring participants to rely solely on their mental representation of the matrix) or spatial reference in the form of an empty matrix, and contrasted active task performance to two control conditions involving only active or passive listening. Our findings show that eye movements consistently matched the imagined movement of the patch in the matrix, not driven solely by auditory or semantic cues. While workload influenced pupil diameter, perceived demand, and performance, it had no observable impact on internal coupling. The availability of spatial reference enhanced coupling of eye movements, leading more frequent, precise, and resilient saccades against noise and bias. The absence of workload effects on coupled saccades in our study, in combination with the relatively high degree of coupling observed even in the invisible matrix condition, indicates that eye movements align with shifts in attention across both visually and internally represented information. This suggests that coupled eye movements are not merely strategic efforts to reduce workload, but rather a natural response to where attention is directed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sonja Walcher
- Creative Cognition Lab, Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
| | - Živa Korda
- Creative Cognition Lab, Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
| | - Christof Körner
- Cognitive Psychology & Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
| | - Mathias Benedek
- Creative Cognition Lab, Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Khadir A, Ghamsari SS, Badri S, Beigzadeh B. Discriminating orientation information with phase consistency in alpha and low-gamma frequency bands: an EEG study. Sci Rep 2024; 14:12007. [PMID: 38796618 PMCID: PMC11127946 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-62934-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Recent studies suggest that noninvasive imaging methods (EEG, MEG) in the human brain scalp can decode the content of visual features information (orientation, color, motion, etc.) in Visual-Working Memory (VWM). Previous work demonstrated that with the sustained low-frequency Event-Related Potential (ERP under 6 Hz) of scalp EEG distributions, it is possible to accurately decode the content of orientation information in VWM during the delay interval. In addition, previous studies showed that the raw data captured by a combination of the occi-parietal electrodes could be used to decode the orientation. However, it is unclear whether the orientation information is available in other frequency bands (higher than 6 Hz) or whether this information is feasible with fewer electrodes. Furthermore, the exploration of orientation information in the phase values of the signal has not been well-addressed. In this study, we propose that orientation information is also accessible through the phase consistency of the occipital region in the alpha band frequency. Our results reveal a significant difference between orientations within 200 ms after stimulus offset in early visual sensory processing, with no apparent effect in power and Event-Related Oscillation (ERO) during this period. Additionally, in later periods (420-500 ms after stimulus offset), a noticeable difference is observed in the phase consistency of low gamma-band activity in the occipital area. Importantly, our findings suggest that phase consistency between trials of the orientation feature in the occipital alpha and low gamma-band can serve as a measure to obtain orientation information in VWM. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that phase consistency in the alpha and low gamma band can reflect the distribution of orientation-selective neuron numbers in the four main orientations in the occipital area.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alireza Khadir
- Biomechatronics and Cognitive Engineering Research Lab, School of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
| | - Shamim Sasani Ghamsari
- Biomechatronics and Cognitive Engineering Research Lab, School of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
| | - Samaneh Badri
- Biomechatronics and Cognitive Engineering Research Lab, School of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
| | - Borhan Beigzadeh
- Biomechatronics and Cognitive Engineering Research Lab, School of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
van Ede F, Nobre AC. A Neural Decision Signal during Internal Sampling from Working Memory in Humans. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e1475232024. [PMID: 38538144 PMCID: PMC11079964 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1475-23.2024] [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: 08/04/2023] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
How humans transform sensory information into decisions that steer purposeful behavior is a central question in psychology and neuroscience that is traditionally investigated during the sampling of external environmental signals. The decision-making framework of gradual information sampling toward a decision has also been proposed to apply when sampling internal sensory evidence from working memory. However, neural evidence for this proposal remains scarce. Here we show (using scalp EEG in male and female human volunteers) that sampling internal visual representations from working memory elicits a scalp EEG potential associated with gradual evidence accumulation-the central parietal positivity. Consistent with an evolving decision process, we show how this signal (1) scales with the time participants require to reach a decision about the cued memory content and (2) is amplified when having to decide among multiple contents in working memory. These results bring the electrophysiology of decision-making into the domain of working memory and suggest that variability in memory-guided behavior may be driven (at least in part) by variations in the sampling of our inner mental contents.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Freek van Ede
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, United Kingdom
| | - Anna C Nobre
- Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, United Kingdom
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, United Kingdom
- Wu Tsai Institute and Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06510
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Abstract
Probing memory of a complex visual image within a few hundred milliseconds after its disappearance reveals significantly greater fidelity of recall than if the probe is delayed by as little as a second. Classically interpreted, the former taps into a detailed but rapidly decaying visual sensory or 'iconic' memory (IM), while the latter relies on capacity-limited but comparatively stable visual working memory (VWM). While iconic decay and VWM capacity have been extensively studied independently, currently no single framework quantitatively accounts for the dynamics of memory fidelity over these time scales. Here, we extend a stationary neural population model of VWM with a temporal dimension, incorporating rapid sensory-driven accumulation of activity encoding each visual feature in memory, and a slower accumulation of internal error that causes memorized features to randomly drift over time. Instead of facilitating read-out from an independent sensory store, an early cue benefits recall by lifting the effective limit on VWM signal strength imposed when multiple items compete for representation, allowing memory for the cued item to be supplemented with information from the decaying sensory trace. Empirical measurements of human recall dynamics validate these predictions while excluding alternative model architectures. A key conclusion is that differences in capacity classically thought to distinguish IM and VWM are in fact contingent upon a single resource-limited WM store.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Tomić
- Department of Psychology, University of CambridgeCambridgeUnited Kingdom
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of ZagrebZagrebCroatia
| | - Paul M Bays
- Department of Psychology, University of CambridgeCambridgeUnited Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Ding Y, Postle BR, van Ede F. Neural Signatures of Competition between Voluntary and Involuntary Influences over the Focus of Attention in Visual Working Memory. J Cogn Neurosci 2024; 36:815-827. [PMID: 38319683 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_02123] [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] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
Adaptive behavior relies on the selection and prioritization of relevant sensory inputs from the external environment as well as from among internal sensory representations held in working memory. Recent behavioral evidence suggests that the classic distinction between voluntary (goal-driven) and involuntary (stimulus-driven) influences over attentional allocation also applies to the selection of internal representations held in working memory. In the current EEG study, we set out to investigate the neural dynamics associated with the competition between voluntary and involuntary control over the focus of attention in visual working memory. We show that when voluntary and involuntary factors compete for the internal focus of attention, prioritization of the appropriate item is delayed-as reflected both in delayed gaze biases that track internal selection and in delayed neural beta (15-25 Hz) dynamics that track the planning for the upcoming memory-guided manual action. We further show how this competition is paralleled-possibly resolved-by an increase in frontal midline theta (4-8 Hz) activity that, moreover, predicts the speed of ensuing memory-guided behavior. Finally, because theta increased following retrocues that effectively reduced working-memory load, our data unveil how frontal theta activity during internal attentional focusing tracks demands on cognitive control over and above working-memory load. Together, these data yield new insight into the neural dynamics that govern the focus of attention in visual working memory, and disentangle the contributions of frontal midline theta activity to the processes of control versus retention in working memory.
Collapse
|
6
|
Ülkü S, Getzmann S, Wascher E, Schneider D. Be prepared for interruptions: EEG correlates of anticipation when dealing with task interruptions and the role of aging. Sci Rep 2024; 14:5679. [PMID: 38454047 PMCID: PMC10920752 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-56400-y] [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: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Dealing with task interruptions requires the flexible use of working memory and attentional control mechanisms, which are prone to age-related changes. We investigated effects of age on dealing with task interruptions and potential advantages of anticipating an interruption using EEG and a retrospective cueing (retro-cue) paradigm. Thirty-two young (18-30 years) and 28 older (55-70 years) participants performed a visual working memory task, where they had to report the orientation of a target following a retro-cue. Within blocks of 10 trials, they were always, never, or randomly interrupted with an arithmetic task before the onset of the retro-cue. The interruption-induced decline in primary task performance was more pronounced in older participants, while only these benefited from anticipation. The EEG analysis revealed reduced theta and alpha/beta response to the retro-cue following interruptions, especially for the older participants. In both groups, anticipated interruptions were associated with increased theta and alpha/beta power prior and during the interruption, and stronger beta suppression to the retro-cue. The results indicate that interruptions impede the refocusing of attention on the task-relevant representation of the primary task, especially in older people, while anticipation facilitates preparation for the interruption task and resumption of the primary task.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Soner Ülkü
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), Ardeystraße 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Stephan Getzmann
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), Ardeystraße 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Edmund Wascher
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), Ardeystraße 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Daniel Schneider
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), Ardeystraße 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
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.
Collapse
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
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Hillman H, Botthof T, Forrence AD, McDougle SD. Dissociable Codes in Motor Working Memory. Psychol Sci 2024; 35:150-161. [PMID: 38236687 DOI: 10.1177/09567976231221756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Working memory has been comprehensively studied in sensory domains, like vision, but little attention has been paid to how motor information (e.g., kinematics of recent movements) is maintained and manipulated in working memory. "Motor working memory" (MWM) is important for short-term behavioral control and skill learning. Here, we employed tasks that required participants to encode and recall reaching movements over short timescales. We conducted three experiments (N = 65 undergraduates) to examine MWM under varying cognitive loads, delays, and degrees of interference. The results support a model of MWM that includes an abstract code that flexibly transfers across effectors, and an effector-specific code vulnerable to interfering movements, even when interfering movements are irrelevant to the task. Neither code was disrupted by increasing visuospatial working memory load. These results echo distinctions between representational formats in other domains, suggesting that MWM shares a basic computational structure with other working memory subsystems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Samuel D McDougle
- Department of Psychology, Yale University
- Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Şentürk YD, Ünver N, Demircan C, Egner T, Günseli E. The reactivation of task rules triggers the reactivation of task-relevant items. Cortex 2024; 171:465-480. [PMID: 38141571 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.10.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 12/25/2023]
Abstract
Working memory (WM) describes the temporary storage of task-relevant items and procedural rules to guide action. Despite its central importance for goal-directed behavior, the interplay between WM and long-term memory (LTM) remains poorly understood. Recent studies have shown that repeated use of the same task-relevant item in WM results in a hand-off of the storage of that item to LTM, and switching to a new item reactivates WM. To further elucidate the rules governing WM-LTM interactions, we here planned to probe whether a change in task rules, independent of a switch in task-relevant items, would also lead to WM reactivation of maintained items. To this end, we used scalp-recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) data, specifically the contralateral delay activity (CDA), to track WM item storage while manipulating repetitions and changes in task rules and task-relevant items across trials in a visual WM task. We tested two rival hypotheses: If changes in task rules result in a reactivation of the target item representation, then the CDA should increase when a task change is cued even when the same target has been repeated across trials. However, if the reactivation of a task-relevant item only depends on the mnemonic availability of the item itself instead of the task it is used for, then only the changes in task-relevant items should reactivate the representations. Accordingly, the CDA amplitude should decrease for repeated task-relevant items independently of a task change. We found a larger CDA on task-switch compared to task-repeat trials, suggesting that the reactivation of task rules triggers the reactivation of task-relevant items in WM. By demonstrating that WM reactivation of LTM is interdependent for task rules and task-relevant items, this study informs our understanding of visual WM and its interplay with LTM. PREREGISTERED STAGE 1 PROTOCOL: https://osf.io/zp9e8 (date of in-principle acceptance: 19/12/2021).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yağmur D Şentürk
- Department of Psychology, Sabancı University, Istanbul, Türkiye.
| | - Nursima Ünver
- Department of Psychology, Sabancı University, Istanbul, Türkiye; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Canada.
| | - Can Demircan
- Department of Psychology, Sabancı University, Istanbul, Türkiye
| | - Tobias Egner
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Eren Günseli
- Department of Psychology, Sabancı University, Istanbul, Türkiye
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Park HB, Zhang W. The dynamics of attentional guidance by working memory contents. Cognition 2024; 242:105638. [PMID: 37839251 PMCID: PMC10843273 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105638] [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: 10/18/2022] [Revised: 07/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023]
Abstract
Working memory (WM) contents can guide attention toward matching sensory information in the environment, but there are mixed findings regarding whether only a single prioritized item or multiple items held in WM can guide attention. The present study examines the limit of WM-guided attention with a novel task procedure and mouse trajectory analysis. Specifically, we introduced a perceptual-matching task utilizing the continuous estimation procedure within the maintenance interval of a WM task for one or two colors. We found that the overall perceptual matching mouse trajectory were robustly biased toward the location of WM-match color on the color-wheel (i.e., attraction bias), but only at memory set size one. However, the analysis of circular mouse trajectory distributions, through hierarchical Bayesian modeling, revealed two separable central peaks at both memory set sizes. Furthermore, model-free analysis demonstrated that the perceptual matching mouse trajectory patterns were similar regardless of memory set sizes. Together, these results support the single-item account and highlight the utility of mouse trajectory analyses in hypothesis testing in experimental psychology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hyung-Bum Park
- Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, Biopsychological Sciences Building (BPSB), 940 E 57th St., Chicago, IL 60637, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
| | - Weiwei Zhang
- Department of Psychology, University of California, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Nasrawi R, Boettcher SEP, van Ede F. Prospection of Potential Actions during Visual Working Memory Starts Early, Is Flexible, and Predicts Behavior. J Neurosci 2023; 43:8515-8524. [PMID: 37857486 PMCID: PMC10711698 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0709-23.2023] [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: 04/18/2023] [Revised: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023] Open
Abstract
For visual working memory to serve upcoming behavior, it is crucial that we prepare for the potential use of working-memory contents ahead of time. Recent studies have demonstrated how the prospection and planning for an upcoming manual action starts early after visual encoding, and occurs alongside visual retention. Here, we address whether such "output planning" in visual working memory flexibly adapts to different visual-motor mappings, and occurs even when an upcoming action will only potentially become relevant for behavior. Human participants (female and male) performed a visual-motor working memory task in which they remembered one or two colored oriented bars for later (potential) use. We linked, and counterbalanced, the tilt of the visual items to specific manual responses. This allowed us to track planning of upcoming behavior through contralateral attenuation of β band activity, a canonical motor-cortical EEG signature of manual-action planning. The results revealed how action encoding and subsequent planning alongside visual working memory (1) reflect anticipated task demands rather than specific visual-motor mappings, (2) occur even for actions that will only potentially become relevant for behavior, and (3) are associated with faster performance for the encoded item, at the expense of performance to other working-memory content. This reveals how the potential prospective use of visual working memory content is flexibly planned early on, with consequences for the speed of memory-guided behavior.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT It is increasingly studied how visual working memory helps us to prepare for the future, in addition to how it helps us to hold onto the past. Recent studies have demonstrated that the planning of prospective actions occurs alongside encoding and retention in working memory. We show that such early "output planning" flexibly adapts to varying visual-motor mappings, occurs both for certain and potential actions, and predicts ensuing working-memory guided behavior. These results highlight the flexible and future-oriented nature of visual working memory, and provide insight into the neural basis of the anticipatory dynamics that translate visual representations into adaptive upcoming behavior.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rose Nasrawi
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081 BT, The Netherlands
| | - Sage E P Boettcher
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, United Kingdom
| | - Freek van Ede
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081 BT, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Ester E, Weese R. Temporally Dissociable Mechanisms of Spatial, Feature, and Motor Selection during Working Memory-guided Behavior. J Cogn Neurosci 2023; 35:2014-2027. [PMID: 37788302 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_02061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
Working memory (WM) is a capacity- and duration-limited system that forms a temporal bridge between fleeting sensory phenomena and possible actions. But how are the contents of WM used to guide behavior? A recent high-profile study reported evidence for simultaneous access to WM content and linked motor plans during WM-guided behavior, challenging serial models where task-relevant WM content is first selected and then mapped on to a task-relevant motor response. However, the task used in that study was not optimized to distinguish the selection of spatial versus nonspatial visual information stored in memory, nor to distinguish whether or how the chronometry of selecting nonspatial visual information stored in memory might differ from the selection of linked motor plans. Here, we revisited the chronometry of spatial, feature, and motor selection during WM-guided behavior using a task optimized to disentangle these processes. Concurrent EEG and eye position recordings revealed clear evidence for temporally dissociable spatial, feature, and motor selection during this task. Thus, our data reveal the existence of multiple WM selection mechanisms that belie conceptualizations of WM-guided behavior based on purely serial or parallel visuomotor processing.
Collapse
|
13
|
Hu Y, Yu Q. Spatiotemporal dynamics of self-generated imagery reveal a reverse cortical hierarchy from cue-induced imagery. Cell Rep 2023; 42:113242. [PMID: 37831604 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Revised: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Visual imagery allows for the construction of rich internal experience in our mental world. However, it has remained poorly understood how imagery experience derives volitionally as opposed to being cue driven. Here, using electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging, we systematically investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of self-generated imagery by having participants volitionally imagining one of the orientations from a learned pool. We contrast self-generated imagery with cue-induced imagery, where participants imagined line orientations based on associative cues acquired previously. Our results reveal overlapping neural signatures of cue-induced and self-generated imagery. Yet, these neural signatures display substantially differential sensitivities to the two types of imagery: self-generated imagery is supported by an enhanced involvement of the anterior cortex in representing imagery contents. By contrast, cue-induced imagery is supported by enhanced imagery representations in the posterior visual cortex. These results jointly support a reverse cortical hierarchy in generating and maintaining imagery contents in self-generated versus externally cued imagery.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yiheng Hu
- Institute of Neuroscience, 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, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Roehe MA, Kluger DS, Schubotz RI. Fluctuations in alpha and beta power provide neural states favourable for contextually relevant anticipatory processes. Eur J Neurosci 2023; 58:3450-3465. [PMID: 37559166 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.16118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Revised: 07/16/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023]
Abstract
Cued sensory input occasionally fails to immediately ensue its respective trigger. Given that our environments are rich in sensory cues, we often end up processing other contextually relevant information in the meantime. The experimental design of the present study allowed us to investigate how such temporal delays and visual interferences may impact anticipatory processes. Thirty-four participants were trained to remember an individualised set of eight paired-up faces. These paired-up faces were presented pseudorandomly in sequences of unpaired face images. To keep participants engaged throughout the electroencephalography study, they were instructed to classify each face image, according to its sex, as fast as possible without compromising accuracy. We observed dissimilar modulations in alpha and beta power between the 6-s timeframe encompassing the onsets of predictive and expected images (temporal delay block) and the 6-s timeframe encompassing the predictive, interference and expected images (visual interference block). Furthermore, an expectation-facilitated reduction of the face-sensitive N170 component was only observed if an anticipated face image directly followed its corresponding predictive counterpart. This effect was no longer evident when the expected face was preceded by a distracting face image. Regardless of the block type, behavioural measures confirmed that anticipated faces were classified significantly faster and with fewer erroneous responses than faces not foretold by a predictive face. Collectively, these results demonstrate that whilst the brain continuously adjusts internal hierarchical generative models to account for temporal delays in stimulus onset and visual interferences, the higher levels, and subsequent predictions, fundamental for expectation-facilitated behaviours remain intact.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marlen A Roehe
- Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Otto-Creutzfeldt-Centre for Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Daniel S Kluger
- Otto-Creutzfeldt-Centre for Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Ricarda I Schubotz
- Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Otto-Creutzfeldt-Centre for Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Jonikaitis D, Zhu S. Action space restructures visual working memory in prefrontal cortex. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.08.13.553135. [PMID: 37645942 PMCID: PMC10462047 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.13.553135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
Visual working memory enables flexible behavior by decoupling sensory stimuli from behavioral actions. While previous studies have predominantly focused on the storage component of working memory, the role of future actions in shaping working memory remains unknown. To answer this question, we used two working memory tasks that allowed the dissociation of sensory and action components of working memory. We measured behavioral performance and neuronal activity in the macaque prefrontal cortex area, frontal eye fields. We show that the action space reshapes working memory, as evidenced by distinct patterns of memory tuning and attentional orienting between the two tasks. Notably, neuronal activity during the working memory period predicted future behavior and exhibited mixed selectivity in relation to the sensory space but linear selectivity relative to the action space. This linear selectivity was achieved through the rapid transformation from sensory to action space and was subsequently maintained as a stable cross-temporal population activity pattern. Combined, we provide direct physiological evidence of the action-oriented nature of frontal eye field neurons during memory tasks and demonstrate that the anticipation of behavioral outcomes plays a significant role in transforming and maintaining the contents of visual working memory.
Collapse
|
16
|
Chawoush B, Draschkow D, van Ede F. Capacity and selection in immersive visual working memory following naturalistic object disappearance. J Vis 2023; 23:9. [PMID: 37548958 PMCID: PMC10411649 DOI: 10.1167/jov.23.8.9] [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: 03/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Visual working memory-holding past visual information in mind for upcoming behavior-is commonly studied following the abrupt removal of visual objects from static two-dimensional (2D) displays. In everyday life, visual objects do not typically vanish from the environment in front of us. Rather, visual objects tend to enter working memory following self or object motion: disappearing from view gradually and changing the spatial relation between memoranda and observer. Here, we used virtual reality (VR) to investigate whether two classic findings from visual working memory research-a capacity of around three objects and the reliance on space for object selection-generalize to more naturalistic modes of object disappearance. Our static reference condition mimicked traditional laboratory tasks whereby visual objects were held static in front of the participant and removed from view abruptly. In our critical flow condition, the same visual objects flowed by participants, disappearing from view gradually and behind the observer. We considered visual working memory performance and capacity, as well as space-based mnemonic selection, indexed by directional biases in gaze. Despite vastly distinct modes of object disappearance and altered spatial relations between memoranda and observer, we found comparable capacity and comparable gaze signatures of space-based mnemonic selection. This finding reveals how classic findings from visual working memory research generalize to immersive situations with more naturalistic modes of object disappearance and with dynamic spatial relations between memoranda and observer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Babak Chawoush
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Dejan Draschkow
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
- Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Freek van Ede
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Kikumoto A, Bhandari A, Shibata K, Badre D. A Transient High-dimensional Geometry Affords Stable Conjunctive Subspaces for Efficient Action Selection. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.06.09.544428. [PMID: 37333209 PMCID: PMC10274903 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.09.544428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/20/2023]
Abstract
Flexible action selection requires cognitive control mechanisms capable of mapping the same inputs to diverse output actions depending on goals and contexts. How the brain encodes information to enable this capacity remains one of the longstanding and fundamental problems in cognitive neuroscience. From a neural state-space perspective, solving this problem requires a control representation that can disambiguate similar input neural states, making task-critical dimensions separable depending on the context. Moreover, for action selection to be robust and time-invariant, control representations must be stable in time, thereby enabling efficient readout by downstream processing units. Thus, an ideal control representation should leverage geometry and dynamics that maximize the separability and stability of neural trajectories for task computations. Here, using novel EEG decoding methods, we investigated how the geometry and dynamics of control representations constrain flexible action selection in the human brain. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that encoding a temporally stable conjunctive subspace that integrates stimulus, response, and context (i.e., rule) information in a high-dimensional geometry achieves the separability and stability needed for context-dependent action selection. Human participants performed a task that requires context-dependent action selection based on pre-instructed rules. Participants were cued to respond immediately at varying intervals following stimulus presentation, which forced responses at different states in neural trajectories. We discovered that in the moments before successful responses, there was a transient expansion of representational dimensionality that separated conjunctive subspaces. Further, we found that the dynamics stabilized in the same time window, and that the timing of entry into this stable and high-dimensional state predicted the quality of response selection on individual trials. These results establish the neural geometry and dynamics the human brain needs for flexible control over behavior.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Atsushi Kikumoto
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences
- RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Wako, Saitama, Japan
| | | | | | - David Badre
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences
- Carney Institute for Brain Science Brown University, Providence, Rhode island, U.S
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Chunharas C, Hettwer MD, Wolff MJ, Rademaker RL. A gradual transition from veridical to categorical representations along the visual hierarchy during working memory, but not perception. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.05.18.541327. [PMID: 37292916 PMCID: PMC10245673 DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.18.541327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The ability to stably maintain visual information over brief delays is central to cognitive functioning. One possible way to achieve robust working memory maintenance is by having multiple concurrent mnemonic representations across multiple cortical loci. For example, early visual cortex might contribute to storage by representing information in a "sensory-like" format, while intraparietal sulcus uses a format transformed away from sensory driven responses. As an explicit test of mnemonic code transformations along the visual hierarchy, we quantitatively modeled the progression of veridical-to-categorical orientation representations in human participants. Participants directly viewed, or held in mind, an oriented grating pattern, and the similarity between fMRI activation patterns for different orientations was calculated throughout retinotopic cortex. During direct perception, similarity was clustered around cardinal orientations, while during working memory the obliques were represented more similarly. We modeled these similarity patterns based on the known distribution of orientation information in the natural world: The "veridical" model uses an efficient coding framework to capture hypothesized representations during visual perception. The "categorical" model assumes that different "psychological distances" between orientations result in orientation categorization relative to cardinal axes. During direct perception, the veridical model explained the data well in early visual areas, while the categorical model did worse. During working memory, the veridical model only explained some of the data, while the categorical model gradually gained explanatory power for increasingly anterior retinotopic regions. These findings suggest that directly viewed images are represented veridically, but once visual information is no longer tethered to the sensory world, there is a gradual progression to more categorical mnemonic formats along the visual hierarchy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chaipat Chunharas
- Department of Medicine, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Meike D Hettwer
- Max Planck School of Cognition, Max Planck Institute of Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Michael J Wolff
- Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with the Max Planck Society, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Rosanne L Rademaker
- Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with the Max Planck Society, Frankfurt, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Kandemir G, Akyürek EG. Impulse perturbation reveals cross-modal access to sensory working memory through learned associations. Neuroimage 2023; 274:120156. [PMID: 37146781 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Revised: 04/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023] Open
Abstract
We investigated if learned associations between visual and auditory stimuli can afford full cross-modal access to working memory. Previous research using the impulse perturbation technique has shown that cross-modal access to working memory is one-sided; visual impulses reveal both auditory and visual memoranda, but auditory impulses do not seem to reveal visual memoranda (Wolff et al., 2020b). Our participants first learned to associate six auditory pure tones with six visual orientation gratings. Next, a delayed match-to-sample task for the orientations was completed, while EEG was recorded. Orientation memories were recalled either via their learned auditory counterpart, or were visually presented. We then decoded the orientation memories from the EEG responses to both auditory and visual impulses presented during the memory delay. Working memory content could always be decoded from visual impulses. Importantly, through recall of the learned associations, the auditory impulse also evoked a decodable response from the visual WM network, providing evidence for full cross-modal access. We also observed that after a brief initial dynamic period, the representational codes of the memory items generalized across time, as well as between perceptual maintenance and long-term recall conditions. Our results thus demonstrate that accessing learned associations in long-term memory provides a cross-modal pathway to working memory that seems to be based on a common coding scheme.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Güven Kandemir
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands; Institute for Brain and Behavior, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Elkan G Akyürek
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Liu B, Nobre AC, van Ede F. Microsaccades transiently lateralise EEG alpha activity. Prog Neurobiol 2023; 224:102433. [PMID: 36907349 PMCID: PMC10074474 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2023.102433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023]
Abstract
The lateralisation of 8-12 Hz alpha activity is a canonical signature of human spatial cognition that is typically studied under strict fixation requirements. Yet, even during attempted fixation, the brain produces small involuntary eye movements known as microsaccades. Here we report how spontaneous microsaccades - made in the absence of incentives to look elsewhere - can themselves drive transient lateralisation of EEG alpha power according to microsaccade direction. This transient lateralisation of posterior alpha power occurs similarly following start and return microsaccades and is, at least for start microsaccades, driven by increased alpha power ipsilateral to microsaccade direction. This reveals new links between spontaneous microsaccades and human electrophysiological brain activity. It highlights how microsaccades are an important factor to consider in studies relating alpha activity - including spontaneous fluctuations in alpha activity - to spatial cognition, such as studies on visual attention, anticipation, and working memory.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Baiwei Liu
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Anna C Nobre
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom; Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Freek van Ede
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Yuan X, Li D, Hu Y, Qi M, Kong Y, Zhao C, Huang J, Song Y. Neural and behavioral evidence supporting the relationship between habitual exercise and working memory precision in healthy young adults. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1146465. [PMID: 37090810 PMCID: PMC10116001 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1146465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023] Open
Abstract
IntroductionWorking memory (WM) is a well-known fundamental ability related to various high-level cognitive functions, such as executive functioning, decision-making, and problem-solving. Although previous studies have posited that chronic exercise may improve cognitive functions, its underlying neural mechanisms and whether habitual exercise is associated with individual WM ability remain unclear.MethodsIn the current study, 36 participants reported their habitual physical activity through the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). In addition to assessments of intelligence quotient (IQ), WM storage capacity (K score), and visuomotor coordination capacity, electroencephalogram (EEG) signals were recorded while the participants performed a WM precision task fusing conventional visual and motor retrospective cue (retro-cue) WM tasks.ResultsWe found that greater amounts of and higher frequencies of vigorous-intensity exercise were highly correlated with smaller recall errors in the WM precision task. Contralateral delay activity (CDA), a well-known WM-related event-related potential (ERP) component evoked by the valid retro-cue, predicted individual behavioral recall error. Participants who met the medium or high level of IPAQ criteria (the regular exercise group) showed smaller behavioral recall error and larger CDA than participants who did not meet the criteria (the irregular exercise group). The two groups did not differ in other assessments, such as IQ, WM storage capacity, and visuomotor coordination ability.DiscussionHabitual exercise was specifically correlated with individual differences in WM precision, rather than IQ, WM storage capacity, and visuomotor coordination ability, suggesting potential mechanisms of how modulations of chronic exercise improve cognition through visual and/or motor WM precision.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xuye Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Dongwei Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Yiqing Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Mengdi Qi
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Yuanjun Kong
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Chenguang Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Center for Cognition and Neuroergonomics, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
- School of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Huang
- Center for Cognition and Neuroergonomics, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
- *Correspondence: Jing Huang,
| | - Yan Song
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Nobre AC, van Ede F. Attention in flux. Neuron 2023; 111:971-986. [PMID: 37023719 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.02.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Revised: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023]
Abstract
Selective attention comprises essential infrastructural functions supporting cognition-anticipating, prioritizing, selecting, routing, integrating, and preparing signals to guide adaptive behavior. Most studies have examined its consequences, systems, and mechanisms in a static way, but attention is at the confluence of multiple sources of flux. The world advances, we operate within it, our minds change, and all resulting signals progress through multiple pathways within the dynamic networks of our brains. Our aim in this review is to raise awareness of and interest in three important facets of how timing impacts our understanding of attention. These include the challenges posed to attention by the timing of neural processing and psychological functions, the opportunities conferred to attention by various temporal structures in the environment, and how tracking the time courses of neural and behavioral modulations with continuous measures yields surprising insights into the workings and principles of attention.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna C Nobre
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK; Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK.
| | - Freek van Ede
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081BT, the Netherlands.
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Kraemer PM, Gluth S. Episodic Memory Retrieval Affects the Onset and Dynamics of Evidence Accumulation during Value-based Decisions. J Cogn Neurosci 2023; 35:692-714. [PMID: 36724395 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
In neuroeconomics, there is much interest in understanding simple value-based choices where agents choose between visually presented goods, comparable to a shopping scenario in a supermarket. However, many everyday decisions are made in the physical absence of the considered goods, requiring agents to recall information about the goods from memory. Here, we asked whether and how this reliance on an internal memory representation affects the temporal dynamics of decision making on a cognitive and neural level. Participants performed a remember-and-decide task in which they made simple purchasing decisions between money offers and snack items while undergoing EEG. Snack identity was presented either visually (value trials) or had to be recalled from memory (memory trials). Behavioral data indicated comparable choice consistency across both trial types, but considerably longer RTs in memory trials. Drift-diffusion modeling suggested that this RT difference was because of longer nondecision time of decision processes as well as altered evidence accumulation dynamics (lower accumulation rate and higher decision threshold). The nondecision time effect was supported by a delayed onset of the lateralized readiness potential. These results show that both decision and nondecision processes are prolonged when participants need to resort to internal memory representations during value-based decisions.
Collapse
|
24
|
Li D, Hu Y, Qi M, Zhao C, Jensen O, Huang J, Song Y. Prioritizing flexible working memory representations through retrospective attentional strengthening. Neuroimage 2023; 269:119902. [PMID: 36708973 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119902] [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: 10/09/2022] [Revised: 01/14/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous work has proposed two potential benefits of retrospective attention on working memory (WM): target strengthening and non-target inhibition. It remains unknown which hypothesis contributes to the improved WM performance, yet the neural mechanisms responsible for this attentional benefit are unclear. Here, we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) signals while 33 participants performed a retrospective-cue WM task. Multivariate pattern classification analysis revealed that only representations of target features were enhanced by valid retrospective attention during retention, supporting the target strengthening hypothesis. Further univariate analysis found that mid-frontal theta inter-trial phase coherence (ITPC) and ERP components were modulated by valid retrospective attention and correlated with individual differences and moment-to-moment fluctuations on behavioral outcomes, suggesting that both trait- and state-level variability in attentional preparatory processes influence goal-directed behavior. Furthermore, task-irrelevant target spatial location could be decoded from EEG signals, indicating that enhanced spatial binding of target representation is vital to high WM precision. Importantly, frontoparietal theta-alpha phase-amplitude coupling was increased by valid retrospective attention and predicted the reduced random guessing rates. This long-range connection supported top-down information flow in the engagement of frontoparietal networks, which might organize attentional states to integrate target features. Altogether, these results provide neurophysiological bases that retrospective attention improves WM precision by enhancing flexible target representation and emphasize the critical role of the frontoparietal attentional network in the control of WM representations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dongwei Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Yiqing Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Mengdi Qi
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Chenguang Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; Center for Cognition and Neuroergonomics, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
| | - Ole Jensen
- Centre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Jing Huang
- Center for Cognition and Neuroergonomics, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China.
| | - Yan Song
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Popov T, Gips B, Weisz N, Jensen O. Brain areas associated with visual spatial attention display topographic organization during auditory spatial attention. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:3478-3489. [PMID: 35972419 PMCID: PMC10068281 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Revised: 07/02/2022] [Accepted: 07/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Spatially selective modulation of alpha power (8-14 Hz) is a robust finding in electrophysiological studies of visual attention, and has been recently generalized to auditory spatial attention. This modulation pattern is interpreted as reflecting a top-down mechanism for suppressing distracting input from unattended directions of sound origin. The present study on auditory spatial attention extends this interpretation by demonstrating that alpha power modulation is closely linked to oculomotor action. We designed an auditory paradigm in which participants were required to attend to upcoming sounds from one of 24 loudspeakers arranged in a circular array around the head. Maintaining the location of an auditory cue was associated with a topographically modulated distribution of posterior alpha power resembling the findings known from visual attention. Multivariate analyses allowed the prediction of the sound location in the horizontal plane. Importantly, this prediction was also possible, when derived from signals capturing saccadic activity. A control experiment on auditory spatial attention confirmed that, in absence of any visual/auditory input, lateralization of alpha power is linked to the lateralized direction of gaze. Attending to an auditory target engages oculomotor and visual cortical areas in a topographic manner akin to the retinotopic organization associated with visual attention.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tzvetan Popov
- Methods of Plasticity Research, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, 1-80502-784644-50205-B15 2TT, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Bart Gips
- NATO Science and Technology Organization Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) La Spezia, La Spezia 19126, Italy
| | - Nathan Weisz
- Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Ole Jensen
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Working memory is supported by learning to represent items as actions. Atten Percept Psychophys 2023:10.3758/s13414-023-02654-z. [PMID: 36859539 PMCID: PMC10372123 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-023-02654-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023]
Abstract
Working memory is typically described as a set of processes that allow for the maintenance and manipulation of information for proximal actions, yet the "action" portion of this construct is commonly overlooked. In contrast, neuroscience-informed theories of working memory have emphasized the hierarchical nature of memory representations, including both goals and sensory representations. These two representational domains are combined for the service of actions. Here, we tested whether, as it is commonly measured (i.e., with computer-based stimuli and button-based responses), working memory involved the planning of motor actions (i.e., specific button presses). Next, we examined the role of motor plan learning in successful working memory performance. Results showed that visual working memory performance was disrupted by unpredictable motor mappings, indicating a role for motor planning in working memory. Further, predictable motor mappings were in fact learned over the course of the experiment, thereby causing the measure of working memory to be partially a measure of participants' ability to learn arbitrary associations between visual stimuli and motor responses. Such learning was not highly specific to certain mappings; in sequences of short tasks, participants improved in their abilities to learn to represent items as actions in working memory. We discuss implications for working memory theories in light of hierarchical structure learning and ecological validity.
Collapse
|
27
|
Ester EF, Pytel P. Changes in behavioral priority influence the accessibility of working memory content. Neuroimage 2023; 272:120055. [PMID: 37001833 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Evolving behavioral goals require the existence of selection mechanisms that prioritize task-relevant working memory (WM) content for action. Selecting an item stored in WM is known to blunt and/or reverse information loss in stimulus-specific representations of that item reconstructed from human brain activity, but extant studies have focused on all-or-none circumstances that allow or disallow an agent to select one of several items stored in WM. Conversely, behavioral studies suggest that humans can flexibly assign different levels of priority to different items stored in WM, but how doing so influences neural representations of WM content is unclear. One possibility is that assigning different levels of priority to items in WM influences the quality of those representations, resulting in more robust neural representations of high- vs. low-priority WM content. A second - and non-exclusive - possibility is that asymmetries in behavioral priority influence how rapidly neural representations of high- vs. low-priority WM content can be selected and reported. We tested these possibilities in two experiments by decoding high- and low-priority WM content from EEG recordings obtained while human volunteers performed a retrospectively cued WM task. Probabilistic changes in the behavioral relevance of a remembered item had no effect on our ability to decode it from EEG signals; instead, these changes influenced the latency at which above-chance decoding performance was reached. Thus, our results indicate that probabilistic changes in the behavioral relevance of WM content influence the ease with which memories can be selected independently of their strength.
Collapse
|
28
|
Abstract
Flexible behavior requires guidance not only by sensations that are available immediately but also by relevant mental contents carried forward through working memory. Therefore, selective-attention functions that modulate the contents of working memory to guide behavior (inside-out) are just as important as those operating on sensory signals to generate internal contents (outside-in). We review the burgeoning literature on selective attention in the inside-out direction and underscore its functional, flexible, and future-focused nature. We discuss in turn the purpose (why), targets (what), sources (when), and mechanisms (how) of selective attention inside working memory, using visual working memory as a model. We show how the study of internal selective attention brings new insights concerning the core cognitive processes of attention and working memory and how considering selective attention and working memory together paves the way for a rich and integrated understanding of how mind serves behavior.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Freek van Ede
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, and Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands;
| | - Anna C Nobre
- Departments of Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry, Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, and Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom;
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Narhi-Martinez W, Dube B, Golomb JD. Attention as a multi-level system of weights and balances. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2023; 14:e1633. [PMID: 36317275 PMCID: PMC9840663 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Revised: 10/07/2022] [Accepted: 10/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
This opinion piece is part of a collection on the topic: "What is attention?" Despite the word's place in the common vernacular, a satisfying definition for "attention" remains elusive. Part of the challenge is there exist many different types of attention, which may or may not share common mechanisms. Here we review this literature and offer an intuitive definition that draws from aspects of prior theories and models of attention but is broad enough to recognize the various types of attention and modalities it acts upon: attention as a multi-level system of weights and balances. While the specific mechanism(s) governing the weighting/balancing may vary across levels, the fundamental role of attention is to dynamically weigh and balance all signals-both externally-generated and internally-generated-such that the highest weighted signals are selected and enhanced. Top-down, bottom-up, and experience-driven factors dynamically impact this balancing, and competition occurs both within and across multiple levels of processing. This idea of a multi-level system of weights and balances is intended to incorporate both external and internal attention and capture their myriad of constantly interacting processes. We review key findings and open questions related to external attention guidance, internal attention and working memory, and broader attentional control (e.g., ongoing competition between external stimuli and internal thoughts) within the framework of this analogy. We also speculate about the implications of failures of attention in terms of weights and balances, ranging from momentary one-off errors to clinical disorders, as well as attentional development and degradation across the lifespan. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Attention Neuroscience > Cognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Blaire Dube
- The Ohio State University, Department of Psychology
| | - Julie D. Golomb
- Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Julie Golomb, Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210.
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Abstract
In this reflective piece on visual working memory, I depart from the laboriously honed skills of writing a review. Instead of integrating approaches, synthesizing evidence, and building a cohesive perspective, I scratch my head and share niggles and puzzlements. I expose where my scholarship and understanding are stumped by findings and standard views in the literature.
Collapse
|
31
|
Zu L, Shi H, Yang J, Zhang C, Fu Y, Xi N, Liu L, Wang W. Unidirectional diphenylalanine nanotubes for dynamically guiding neurite outgrowth. Biomed Mater 2022; 18. [PMID: 36541466 DOI: 10.1088/1748-605x/aca737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Neural networks have been culturedin vitroto investigate brain functions and diseases, clinical treatments for brain damage, and device development. However, it remains challenging to form complex neural network structures with desired orientations and connectionsin vitro. Here, we introduce a dynamic strategy by using diphenylalanine (FF) nanotubes for controlling physical patterns on a substrate to regulate neurite-growth orientation in cultivating neural networks. Parallel FF nanotube patterns guide neurons to develop neurites through the unidirectional FF nanotubes while restricting their polarization direction. Subsequently, the FF nanotubes disassemble and the restriction of neurites disappear, and secondary neurite development of the neural network occurs in other direction. Experiments were conducted that use the hippocampal neurons, and the results demonstrated that the cultured neural networks by using the proposed dynamic approach can form a significant cross-connected structure with substantially more lateral neural connections than static substrates. The proposed dynamic approach for neurite outgrowing enables the construction of oriented innervation and cross-connected neural networksin vitroand may explore the way for the bio-fabrication of highly complex structures in tissue engineering.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lipeng Zu
- State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, People's Republic of China.,Institutes for Robotics and Intelligent Manufacturing, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110169, People's Republic of China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China
| | - Huiyao Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, People's Republic of China.,Institutes for Robotics and Intelligent Manufacturing, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110169, People's Republic of China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China
| | - Jia Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, People's Republic of China.,Institutes for Robotics and Intelligent Manufacturing, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110169, People's Republic of China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People's Republic of China
| | - Chuang Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, People's Republic of China.,Institutes for Robotics and Intelligent Manufacturing, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110169, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuanyuan Fu
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Basic Medical College, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, People's Republic of China
| | - Ning Xi
- Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
| | - Lianqing Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, People's Republic of China.,Institutes for Robotics and Intelligent Manufacturing, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110169, People's Republic of China
| | - Wenxue Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, People's Republic of China.,Institutes for Robotics and Intelligent Manufacturing, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110169, People's Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Ren X, Zhang H, Luo H. Dynamic emergence of relational structure network in human brains. Prog Neurobiol 2022; 219:102373. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2022.102373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Revised: 10/30/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
|
33
|
Shimane D, Tanaka T, Watanabe K, Tanaka K. Motor engagement enhances incidental memory for task-irrelevant items. Front Psychol 2022; 13:914877. [PMID: 36092058 PMCID: PMC9453871 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.914877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Actions shape what we see and memorize. A previous study suggested the interaction between motor and memory systems by showing that memory encoding for task-irrelevant items was enhanced when presented with motor-response cues. However, in the studies on the attentional boost effect, it has been revealed that detection of the target stimulus can lead to memory enhancement without requiring overt action. Thus, the direct link between the action and memory remains unclear. To exclude the effect of the target detection process as a potential confounder, this study assessed the benefit of action for memory by separating items from the response cue in time. In our pre-registered online experiment (N = 142), participants responded to visual Go cues by pressing a key (i.e., motor task) or counting (i.e., motor-neutral cognitive task) while ignoring No-go cues. In each trial, two task-irrelevant images were sequentially presented after the cue disappearance. After encoding the Go/No-go tasks, participants performed a surprise recognition memory test for those images. Importantly, we quantified the impact of overt execution of the action by comparing memories with and without motor response and the impact of covert motor processes (e.g., preparation and planning of action) by comparing memory between the motor and cognitive tasks. The results showed no memory differences between Go and No-go trials in the motor task. This means that the execution itself was not critical for memory enhancement. However, the memory performance in the motor No-go trials was higher than that in the cognitive No-go trials, only for the items presented away from the cues in time. Therefore, engaging the motor task itself could increase incidental memory for the task-irrelevant items compared to a passive viewing situation. We added empirical evidence on the online interaction between action and memory encoding. These memory advantages could be especially brought in action preparation and planning. We believe this fact may expand our present understanding of everyday memory, such as active learning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daisuke Shimane
- Research Center for Brain Communication, Kochi University of Technology, Kochi, Japan
| | - Takumi Tanaka
- Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology and Faculty of Letters, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- *Correspondence: Takumi Tanaka
| | - Katsumi Watanabe
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kanji Tanaka
- Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Consequences of predictable temporal structure in multi-task situations. Cognition 2022; 225:105156. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2021] [Revised: 04/26/2022] [Accepted: 04/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
|
35
|
Formica S, González-García C, Senoussi M, Marinazzo D, Brass M. Theta-phase connectivity between medial prefrontal and posterior areas underlies novel instructions implementation. eNeuro 2022; 9:ENEURO.0225-22.2022. [PMID: 35868857 PMCID: PMC9374157 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0225-22.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Implementing novel instructions is a complex and uniquely human cognitive ability, that requires the rapid and flexible conversion of symbolic content into a format that enables the execution of the instructed behavior. Preparing to implement novel instructions, as opposed to their mere maintenance, involves the activation of the instructed motor plans, and the binding of the action information to the specific context in which this should be executed. Recent evidence and prominent computational models suggest that this efficient configuration of the system might involve a central role of frontal theta oscillations in establishing top-down long-range synchronization between distant and task-relevant brain areas. In the present EEG study (human subjects, 30 females, 4 males), we demonstrate that proactively preparing for the implementation of novels instructions, as opposed to their maintenance, involves a strengthened degree of connectivity in the theta frequency range between medial prefrontal and motor/visual areas. Moreover, we replicated previous results showing oscillatory features associated specifically with implementation demands, and extended on them demonstrating the role of theta oscillations in mediating the effect of task demands on behavioral performance. Taken together, these findings support our hypothesis that the modulation of connectivity patterns between frontal and task-relevant posterior brain areas is a core factor in the emergence of a behavior-guiding format from novel instructions.Significance statementEveryday life requires the use and manipulation of currently available information to guide behavior and reach specific goals. In the present study we investigate how the same instructed content elicits different neural activity depending on the task being performed. Crucially, connectivity between medial prefrontal cortex and posterior brain areas is strengthened when novel instructions have to be implemented, rather than simply maintained. This finding suggests that theta oscillations play a role in setting up a dynamic and flexible network of task-relevant regions optimized for the execution of the instructed behavior.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Formica
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Department of Psychology, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, 10117, Germany
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Gent, 9000, Belgium
| | - Carlos González-García
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Gent, 9000, Belgium
- Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Granada, Granada, 18071, Spain
| | - Mehdi Senoussi
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Gent, 9000, Belgium
| | | | - Marcel Brass
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Department of Psychology, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, 10117, Germany
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Gent, 9000, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Rösner M, Sabo M, Klatt LI, Wascher E, Schneider D. Preparing for the unknown: How working memory provides a link between perception and anticipated action. Neuroimage 2022; 260:119466. [PMID: 35840116 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2022] [Revised: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022] Open
Abstract
What mechanisms underlie the transfer of a working memory representation into a higher-level code for guiding future actions? Electrophysiological correlates of attentional selection and motor preparation processes within working memory were investigated in two retrospective cuing tasks. In the first experiment, participants stored the orientation and location of a grating. Subsequent feature cues (selective vs. neutral) indicated which feature would be the target for later report. The oscillatory response in the mu and beta frequency range with an estimated source in the sensorimotor cortex contralateral to the responding hand was used as correlate of motor preparation. Mu/beta suppression was stronger following the selective feature cues compared to the neutral cue, demonstrating that purely feature-based selection is sufficient to form a prospective motor plan. In the second experiment, another retrospective cue was included to study whether knowledge of the task at hand is necessary to initiate motor preparation. Following the feature cue, participants were cued to either compare the stored feature(s) to a probe stimulus (recognition task) or to adjust the memory probe to match the target feature (continuous report task). An analogous suppression of mu oscillations was observed following a selective feature cue, even ahead of task specification. Further, a subsequent selective task cue again elicited a mu/beta suppression, which was stronger after a continuous report task cue. This indicates that working memory is able to flexibly store different types of information in higher-level mental codes to provide optimal prerequisites for all required action possibilities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marlene Rösner
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany.
| | - Melinda Sabo
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Laura-Isabelle Klatt
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Edmund Wascher
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Daniel Schneider
- Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Functional but not obligatory link between microsaccades and neural modulation by covert spatial attention. Nat Commun 2022; 13:3503. [PMID: 35715471 PMCID: PMC9205986 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31217-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Covert spatial attention is associated with spatial modulation of neural activity as well as with directional biases in fixational eye movements known as microsaccades. We studied how these two ‘fingerprints’ of attention are interrelated in humans. We investigated spatial modulation of 8-12 Hz EEG alpha activity and microsaccades when attention is directed internally within the spatial layout of visual working memory. Consistent with a common origin, spatial modulations of alpha activity and microsaccades co-vary: alpha lateralisation is stronger in trials with microsaccades toward versus away from the memorised location of the to-be-attended item and occurs earlier in trials with earlier microsaccades toward this item. Critically, however, trials without attention-driven microsaccades nevertheless show clear spatial modulation of alpha activity – comparable to trials with attention-driven microsaccades. Thus, directional biases in microsaccades correlate with neural signatures of spatial attention, but they are not necessary for neural modulation by spatial attention to be manifest. Covert visual spatial attention modulates neural activity and biases the direction of small eye movements, known as microsaccades. Here, the authors show that these two markers co-vary, but that microsaccades are not necessary for neural modulation by attention to occur.
Collapse
|
38
|
Nasrawi R, van Ede F. Planning the Potential Future during Multi-item Visual Working Memory. J Cogn Neurosci 2022; 34:1534-1546. [PMID: 35604357 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Working memory allows us to retain visual information to guide upcoming future behavior. In line with this future-oriented purpose of working memory, recent studies have shown that action planning occurs during encoding and retention of a single visual item, for which the upcoming action is certain. We asked whether and how this extends to multi-item visual working memory, when visual representations serve the potential future. Human participants performed a visual working-memory task with a memory-load manipulation (one/two/four items) and a delayed orientation-reproduction report (of one item). We measured EEG to track 15- to 25-Hz beta activity in electrodes contralateral to the required response hand-a canonical marker of action planning. We show an attenuation of beta activity, not only in Load 1 (with one certain future action) but also in Load 2 (with two potential future actions), compared with Load 4 (with low prospective-action certainty). Moreover, in Load 2, potential action planning occurs regardless whether both visual items afford similar or dissimilar manual responses, and it predicts the speed of ensuing memory-guided behavior. This shows that potential action planning occurs during multi-item visual working memory and brings the perspective that working memory helps us prepare for the potential future.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Freek van Ede
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,University of Oxford, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Henderson MM, Rademaker RL, Serences JT. Flexible utilization of spatial- and motor-based codes for the storage of visuo-spatial information. eLife 2022; 11:e75688. [PMID: 35522567 PMCID: PMC9075954 DOI: 10.7554/elife.75688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 04/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Working memory provides flexible storage of information in service of upcoming behavioral goals. Some models propose specific fixed loci and mechanisms for the storage of visual information in working memory, such as sustained spiking in parietal and prefrontal cortex during working memory maintenance. An alternative view is that information can be remembered in a flexible format that best suits current behavioral goals. For example, remembered visual information might be stored in sensory areas for easier comparison to future sensory inputs, or might be re-coded into a more abstract action-oriented format and stored in motor areas. Here, we tested this hypothesis using a visuo-spatial working memory task where the required behavioral response was either known or unknown during the memory delay period. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and multivariate decoding, we found that there was less information about remembered spatial position in early visual and parietal regions when the required response was known versus unknown. Furthermore, a representation of the planned motor action emerged in primary somatosensory, primary motor, and premotor cortex during the same task condition where spatial information was reduced in early visual cortex. These results suggest that the neural networks supporting working memory can be strategically reconfigured depending on specific behavioral requirements during a canonical visual working memory paradigm.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Margaret M Henderson
- Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San DiegoSan DiegoUnited States
- Department of Machine Learning, Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburghUnited States
- Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburghUnited States
| | - Rosanne L Rademaker
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San DiegoSan DiegoUnited States
- Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck SocietyFrankfurtGermany
| | - John T Serences
- Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San DiegoSan DiegoUnited States
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San DiegoSan DiegoUnited States
- Kavli Foundation for the Brain and Mind, University of California, San DiegoSan DiegoUnited States
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Zhang X, Zhang S, Lu B, Wang Y, Li N, Peng Y, Hou J, Qiu J, Li F, Yao D, Xu P. Dynamic corticomuscular multi-regional modulations during finger movement revealed by time-varying network analysis. J Neural Eng 2022; 19. [PMID: 35523144 DOI: 10.1088/1741-2552/ac6d7c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE A body movement involves the complicated information exchange between the central and peripheral systems, which is characterized by the dynamical coupling patterns between the multiple brain areas and multiple muscle units. How the central and peripheral nerves coordinate multiple internal brain regions and muscle groups is very important when accomplishing the action. APPROACH In this study, we extend the adaptive directed transfer function to construct the time-varying networks between multiple corticomuscular regions and divide the movement duration into different stages by the time-varying corticomuscular network patterns. MAIN RESULTS The inter dynamical corticomuscular network demonstrated the different interaction patterns between the central and peripheral systems during the different hand movement stages. The muscles transmit bottom-up movement information in the preparation stage, but the brain issues top-down control commands and dominates in the execution stage, and finally, the brain's dominant advantage gradually weakens in the relaxation stage. When classifying the different movement stages based on time-varying corticomuscular network indicators, an average accuracy above 74% could be reliably achieved. SIGNIFICANCE The findings of this study help deepen our knowledge of central-peripheral nerve pathways and coordination mechanisms, and also provide opportunities for monitoring and regulating movement disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiabing Zhang
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 2006 Xiyuan Avenue, Chengdu, 610054, CHINA
| | - Shu Zhang
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 2006 Xiyuan Avenue, Chengdu, 610054, CHINA
| | - Bin Lu
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 2006 Xiyuan Avenue, Chengdu, 610054, CHINA
| | - Yifeng Wang
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 2006 Xiyuan Avenue, Chengdu, 610054, CHINA
| | - Ning Li
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 2006 Xiyuan Avenue, Chengdu, 610054, CHINA
| | - Yueheng Peng
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 2006 Xiyuan Avenue, Chengdu, 610054, CHINA
| | - Jingming Hou
- Third Military Medical University Southwest Hospital, No. 30, Gaotanyanzheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing, 400038, CHINA
| | - Jing Qiu
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 2006 Xiyuan Avenue, Chengdu, 610054, CHINA
| | - Fali Li
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 2006 Xiyuan Avenue, Chengdu, 610054, CHINA
| | - Dezhong Yao
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 2006 Xiyuan Avenue, Chengdu, 610054, CHINA
| | - Peng Xu
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 2006 Xiyuan Avenue, Chengdu, 610054, CHINA
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Mazzetti C, Gonzales Damatac C, Sprooten E, ter Huurne N, Buitelaar JK, Jensen O. Dorsal-to-ventral imbalance in the superior longitudinal fasciculus mediates methylphenidate's effect on beta oscillations in ADHD. Psychophysiology 2022; 59:e14008. [PMID: 35165906 PMCID: PMC9287074 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Revised: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 01/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
While pharmacological treatment with methylphenidate (MPH) is a first line intervention for ADHD, its mechanisms of action have yet to be elucidated. We here seek to identify the white matter tracts that mediate MPH's effect on beta oscillations. We implemented a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover design, where boys diagnosed with ADHD underwent behavioral and MEG measurements during a spatial attention task while on and off MPH. The results were compared with an age/IQ-matched control group. Estimates of white matter tracts were obtained using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Via a stepwise model selection strategy, we identified the fiber tracts (regressors) significantly predicting values of the dependent variables of interest (i.e., oscillatory power, behavioral performance, and clinical symptoms): the anterior thalamic radiation (ATR), the superior longitudinal fasciculus ("parietal endings") (SLFp), and superior longitudinal fasciculus ("temporal endings") (SLFt). ADHD symptoms severity was associated with lower fractional anisotropy (FA) within the ATR. In addition, individuals with relatively higher FA in SLFp compared to SLFt, led to stronger behavioral effects of MPH in the form of faster and more accurate responses. Furthermore, the same parietotemporal FA gradient explained the effects of MPH on beta modulation: subjects with ADHD exhibiting higher FA in SLFp compared to SLFt also displayed greater effects of MPH on beta power during response preparation. Our data suggest that the behavioral deficits and aberrant oscillatory modulations observed in ADHD depend on a possibly detrimental structural connectivity imbalance within the SLF, caused by a diffusivity gradient in favor of parietal rather than temporal, fiber tracts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Mazzetti
- Department of Basic NeurosciencesUniversity of GenevaGenèveSwitzerland
| | - Christienne Gonzales Damatac
- Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Department of Cognitive NeuroscienceRadboudumcNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Emma Sprooten
- Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Department of Cognitive NeuroscienceRadboudumcNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Niels ter Huurne
- Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University CentreNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Jan K. Buitelaar
- Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Department of Cognitive NeuroscienceRadboudumcNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University CentreNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Ole Jensen
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of PsychologyUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUK
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Draschkow D, Nobre AC, van Ede F. Multiple spatial frames for immersive working memory. Nat Hum Behav 2022; 6:536-544. [PMID: 35058640 PMCID: PMC7612679 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01245-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
As we move around, relevant information that disappears from sight can still be held in working memory to serve upcoming behaviour. How we maintain and select visual information as we move through the environment remains poorly understood because most laboratory tasks of working memory rely on removing visual material while participants remain still. We used virtual reality to study visual working memory following self-movement in immersive environments. Directional biases in gaze revealed the recruitment of more than one spatial frame for maintaining and selecting memoranda following self-movement. The findings bring the important realization that multiple spatial frames support working memory in natural behaviour. The results also illustrate how virtual reality can be a critical experimental tool to characterize this core memory system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dejan Draschkow
- Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| | - Anna C Nobre
- Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Freek van Ede
- Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Zhang M, McNab F, Smallwood J, Jefferies E. OUP accepted manuscript. Cereb Cortex 2022; 32:3959-3974. [PMID: 35088083 PMCID: PMC9476615 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2021] [Revised: 11/11/2021] [Accepted: 11/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Working memory (WM) allows goal-relevant information to be encoded and maintained in mind, even when the contents of WM are incongruent with the immediate environment. While regions of heteromodal cortex are important for WM, the neural mechanisms that relate to individual differences in the encoding and maintenance of goal-relevant information remain unclear. Here, we used behavioral correlates of two large-scale heteromodal networks at rest, the default mode (DMN) and frontoparietal (FPN) networks, to understand their contributions to distinct features of WM. We assessed each individual’s ability to resist distracting information during the encoding and maintenance phases of a visuospatial WM task. Individuals with stronger connectivity of DMN with medial visual and retrosplenial cortex were less affected by encoding distraction. Conversely, weaker connectivity of both DMN and FPN with visual regions was associated with better WM performance when target information was no longer in the environment and distractors were presented in the maintenance phase. Our study suggests that stronger coupling between heteromodal cortex and visual–spatial regions supports WM encoding by reducing the influence of concurrently presented distractors, while weaker visual coupling is associated with better maintenance of goal-relevant information because it relates to the capacity to ignore task-irrelevant changes in the environment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Meichao Zhang
- Address correspondence to M. Zhang, Department of Psychology, The University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK. ; E. Jefferies, Department of Psychology, The University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK.
| | - Fiona McNab
- Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Jonathan Smallwood
- Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada
| | - Elizabeth Jefferies
- Address correspondence to M. Zhang, Department of Psychology, The University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK. ; E. Jefferies, Department of Psychology, The University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
Gresch D, Boettcher SEP, van Ede F, Nobre AC. Shielding working-memory representations from temporally predictable external interference. Cognition 2021; 217:104915. [PMID: 34600356 PMCID: PMC8543071 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Revised: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Protecting working-memory content from distracting external sensory inputs and intervening tasks is an ubiquitous demand in daily life. Here, we ask whether and how temporal expectations about external events can help mitigate effects of such interference during working-memory retention. We manipulated the temporal predictability of interfering items that occurred during the retention period of a visual working-memory task and report that temporal expectations reduce the detrimental influence of external interference on subsequent memory performance. Moreover, to determine if the protective effects of temporal expectations rely on distractor suppression or involve shielding of internal representations, we compared effects after irrelevant distractors that could be ignored vs. interrupters that required a response. Whereas distractor suppression may be sufficient to confer protection from predictable distractors, any benefits after interruption are likely to involve memory shielding. We found similar benefits of temporal expectations after both types of interference. We conclude that temporal expectations may play an important role in safeguarding behaviour based on working memory - acting through mechanisms that include the shielding of internal content from external interference.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Gresch
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| | - Sage E P Boettcher
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Freek van Ede
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Anna C Nobre
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Hermann P, Weiss B, Knakker B, Madurka P, Manga A, Nárai Á, Vidnyánszky Z. Neural basis of distractor resistance during visual working memory maintenance. Neuroimage 2021; 245:118650. [PMID: 34687860 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Revised: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Visual working memory representations must be protected from the intervening irrelevant visual input. While it is well known that interference resistance is most challenging when distractors match the prioritised mnemonic information, its neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we identify two top-down attentional control processes that have opposing effects on distractor resistance. We reveal an early selection negativity in the EEG responses to matching as compared to non-matching distractors, the magnitude of which is negatively associated with behavioural distractor resistance. Additionally, matching distractors lead to reduced post-stimulus alpha power as well as increased fMRI responses in the object-selective visual cortical areas and the inferior frontal gyrus. However, the congruency effect found on the post-stimulus periodic alpha power and the inferior frontal gyrus fMRI responses show a positive association with distractor resistance. These findings suggest that distractor interference is enhanced by proactive memory content-guided selection processes and diminished by reactive allocation of top-down attentional resources to protect memorandum representations within visual cortical areas retaining the most selective mnemonic code.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Petra Hermann
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest H-1117, Hungary
| | - Béla Weiss
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest H-1117, Hungary
| | - Balázs Knakker
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest H-1117, Hungary
| | - Petra Madurka
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest H-1117, Hungary
| | - Annamária Manga
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest H-1117, Hungary
| | - Ádám Nárai
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest H-1117, Hungary
| | - Zoltán Vidnyánszky
- Brain Imaging Centre, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest H-1117, Hungary.
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Fan Y, Han Q, Guo S, Luo H. Distinct Neural Representations of Content and Ordinal Structure in Auditory Sequence Memory. J Neurosci 2021; 41:6290-6303. [PMID: 34088795 PMCID: PMC8287991 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0320-21.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2021] [Revised: 04/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Two forms of information, frequency (content) and ordinal position (structure), have to be stored when retaining a sequence of auditory tones in working memory (WM). However, the neural representations and coding characteristics of content and structure, particularly during WM maintenance, remain elusive. Here, in two EEG studies in human participants (both sexes), by transiently perturbing the "activity-silent" WM retention state and decoding the reactivated WM information, we demonstrate that content and structure are stored in a dissociative manner with distinct characteristics throughout WM process. First, each tone in the sequence is associated with two codes in parallel, characterizing its frequency and ordinal position, respectively. Second, during retention, a structural retrocue successfully reactivates structure but not content, whereas a following white noise triggers content but not structure. Third, structure representation remains stable, whereas content code undergoes a dynamic transformation through memory progress. Finally, the noise-triggered content reactivations during retention correlate with subsequent WM behavior. Overall, our results support distinct content and structure representations in auditory WM and provide an efficient approach to access the silently stored WM information in the human brain. The dissociation of content and structure could facilitate efficient memory formation via generalizing stable structure to new auditory contents.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In memory experiences, contents do not exist independently but are linked with each other via ordinal structure. For instance, recalling a piece of favorite music relies on correct ordering (sequence structure) of musical tones (content). How are the structure and content for an auditory temporally structured experience maintained in working memory? Here, by using impulse-response approach and time-resolved representational dissimilarity analysis on human EEG recordings in an auditory working memory task, we reveal that content and structure are stored in a dissociated way, which would facilitate efficient and rapid memory formation through generalizing stable structure knowledge to new auditory inputs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ying Fan
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
- PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Qiming Han
- PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Simeng Guo
- Yuanpei College, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Huan Luo
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
- PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| |
Collapse
|
47
|
van Ede F, Nobre AC. Toward a neurobiology of internal selective attention. Trends Neurosci 2021; 44:513-515. [PMID: 33992457 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2021.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2021] [Accepted: 04/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
A recent study in non-human primates (NHPs) by Panichello and Buschman brings the investigation of selective attention within visual working memory to the systems and cellular neuroscience levels. We reflect on this breakthrough in light of nearly 20 years of related research in humans and highlight some of the lessons to help frame future work.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Freek van Ede
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Anna C Nobre
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
48
|
Kalm K, Norris D. Sequence learning recodes cortical representations instead of strengthening initial ones. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1008969. [PMID: 34029315 PMCID: PMC8177667 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2020] [Revised: 06/04/2021] [Accepted: 04/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We contrast two computational models of sequence learning. The associative learner posits that learning proceeds by strengthening existing association weights. Alternatively, recoding posits that learning creates new and more efficient representations of the learned sequences. Importantly, both models propose that humans act as optimal learners but capture different statistics of the stimuli in their internal model. Furthermore, these models make dissociable predictions as to how learning changes the neural representation of sequences. We tested these predictions by using fMRI to extract neural activity patterns from the dorsal visual processing stream during a sequence recall task. We observed that only the recoding account can explain the similarity of neural activity patterns, suggesting that participants recode the learned sequences using chunks. We show that associative learning can theoretically store only very limited number of overlapping sequences, such as common in ecological working memory tasks, and hence an efficient learner should recode initial sequence representations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kristjan Kalm
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Dennis Norris
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
Yu Q, Postle BR. The Neural Codes Underlying Internally Generated Representations in Visual Working Memory. J Cogn Neurosci 2021; 33:1142-1157. [PMID: 34428785 PMCID: PMC8594925 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Humans can construct rich subjective experience even when no information is available in the external world. Here, we investigated the neural representation of purely internally generated stimulus-like information during visual working memory. Participants performed delayed recall of oriented gratings embedded in noise with varying contrast during fMRI scanning. Their trialwise behavioral responses provided an estimate of their mental representation of the to-be-reported orientation. We used multivariate inverted encoding models to reconstruct the neural representations of orientation in reference to the response. We found that response orientation could be successfully reconstructed from activity in early visual cortex, even on 0% contrast trials when no orientation information was actually presented, suggesting the existence of a purely internally generated neural code in early visual cortex. In addition, cross-generalization and multidimensional scaling analyses demonstrated that information derived from internal sources was represented differently from typical working memory representations, which receive influences from both external and internal sources. Similar results were also observed in intraparietal sulcus, with slightly different cross-generalization patterns. These results suggest a potential mechanism for how externally driven and internally generated information is maintained in working memory.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qing Yu
- Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | | |
Collapse
|
50
|
The Self-Prioritization Effect: Self-referential processing in movement highlights modulation at multiple stages. Atten Percept Psychophys 2021; 83:2656-2674. [PMID: 33861428 PMCID: PMC8302500 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-021-02295-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
A wealth of recent research supports the validity of the Self-Prioritization Effect (SPE)—the performance advantage for responses to self-associated as compared with other-person-associated stimuli in a shape–label matching task. However, inconsistent findings have been reported regarding the particular stage(s) of information processing that are influenced. In one account, self-prioritization modulates multiple stages of processing, whereas according to a competing account, self-prioritization is driven solely by a modulation in central-stage information-processing. To decide between these two possibilities, the present study tested whether the self-advantage in arm movements previously reported could reflect a response bias using visual feedback (Experiment 1), or approach motivation processes (Experiments 1 and 2). In Experiment 1, visual feedback was occluded in a ballistic movement-time variant of the matching task, whereas in Experiment 2, task responses were directed away from the stimuli and the participant’s body. The advantage for self in arm-movement responses emerged in both experiments. The findings indicate that the self-advantage in arm-movement responses does not depend on the use of visual feedback or on a self/stimuli-directed response. They further indicate that self-relevance can modulate movement responses (predominantly) using proprioceptive, kinaesthetic, and tactile information. These findings support the view that self-relevance modulates arm-movement responses, countering the suggestion that self-prioritization only influences central-stage processes, and consistent with a multiple-stage influence instead.
Collapse
|