1
|
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
|
2
|
Lim SJ, Thiel C, Sehm B, Deserno L, Lepsien J, Obleser J. Distributed networks for auditory memory differentially contribute to recall precision. Neuroimage 2022; 256:119227. [PMID: 35452804 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119227] [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: 11/09/2021] [Revised: 03/13/2022] [Accepted: 04/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Re-directing attention to objects in working memory can enhance their representational fidelity. However, how this attentional enhancement of memory representations is implemented across distinct, sensory and cognitive-control brain network is unspecified. The present fMRI experiment leverages psychophysical modelling and multivariate auditory-pattern decoding as behavioral and neural proxies of mnemonic fidelity. Listeners performed an auditory syllable pitch-discrimination task and received retro-active cues to selectively attend to a to-be-probed syllable in memory. Accompanied by increased neural activation in fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular networks, valid retro-cues yielded faster and more perceptually sensitive responses in recalling acoustic detail of memorized syllables. Information about the cued auditory object was decodable from hemodynamic response patterns in superior temporal sulcus (STS), fronto-parietal, and sensorimotor regions. However, among these regions retaining auditory memory objects, neural fidelity in the left STS and its enhancement through attention-to-memory best predicted individuals' gain in auditory memory recall precision. Our results demonstrate how functionally discrete brain regions differentially contribute to the attentional enhancement of memory representations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sung-Joo Lim
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Maria-Goeppert-Str. 9a, Lübeck 23562, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany; Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, State University of New York, 4400 Vestal Parkway E, Vestal, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA; Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Christiane Thiel
- Department of Psychology, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg 26129, Germany
| | - Bernhard Sehm
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Lorenz Deserno
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Jöran Lepsien
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Jonas Obleser
- Department of Psychology, University of Lübeck, Maria-Goeppert-Str. 9a, Lübeck 23562, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany; Center of Brain, Behavior, and Metabolism, University of Lübeck, Lübeck 23562, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|