scholarly journals Transcranial magnetic stimulation reveals the content of visual short-term memory in the visual cortex

NeuroImage ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 1683-1689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juha Silvanto ◽  
Zaira Cattaneo
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory

scholarly journals Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Right Superior Parietal Lobule Modulates the Retro-Cue Benefit in Visual Short-Term Memory

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 252
Author(s):  
Fabiano Botta ◽  
Juan Lupiáñez ◽  
Valerio Santangelo ◽  
Elisa Martín-Arévalo
Keyword(s):  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Superior Parietal Lobule ◽  
Spatial Cues ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory ◽  
Parietal Lobule ◽  
The Right

Several studies have shown enhanced performance in change detection tasks when spatial cues indicating the probe’s location are presented after the memory array has disappeared (i.e., retro-cues) compared with spatial cues that are presented simultaneously with the test array (i.e., post-cues). This retro-cue benefit led some authors to propose the existence of two different stores of visual short-term memory: a weak but high-capacity store (fragile memory (FM)) linked to the effect of retro-cues and a robust but low-capacity store (working memory (WM)) linked to the effect of post-cues. The former is thought to be an attention-free system, whereas the latter would strictly depend on selective attention. Nonetheless, this dissociation is under debate, and several authors do not consider retro-cues as a proxy to measure the existence of an independent memory system (e.g., FM). We approached this controversial issue by altering the attention-related functions in the right superior parietal lobule (SPL) by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), whose effects were mediated by the integrity of the right superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF). Specifically, we asked whether TMS on the SPL affected the performance of retro cues vs. post-cues to a similar extent. The results showed that TMS on the SPL, mediated by right SLF-III integrity, produced a modulation of the retro-cue benefit, namely a memory capacity decrease in the post-cues but not in the retro-cues. These findings have strong implications for the debate on the existence of independent stages of visual short-term memory and for the growing literature showing a key role of the SLF for explaining the variability of TMS effects across participants.

scholarly journals How Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation over Early Visual Cortex impacts short-term memory precision and guess rate

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosanne L. Rademaker ◽  
Vincent G. van de Ven ◽  
Frank Tong ◽  
Alexander T. Sack
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Early Visual Cortex ◽  
Stimulus Offset ◽  
Memory Precision

AbstractNeuroimaging studies have demonstrated that activity patterns in early visual areas predict stimulus properties actively maintained in visual short-term memory. Yet, the mechanisms by which such information is represented remain largely unknown. In this study, observers remembered the orientations of 4 briefly presented gratings, one in each quadrant of the visual field. A 10Hz Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) triplet was applied directly at stimulus offset, or midway through a 2-second delay, targeting early visual cortex corresponding retinotopically to a sample item in the lower hemifield. Memory for one of the four gratings was probed at random, and participants reported this orientation via method of adjustment. Replication errors were smaller when the visual field location targeted by TMS overlapped with that of the cued memory item, compared to errors for stimuli probed diagonally to TMS. This implied topographic storage of orientation information, and a memory-enhancing effect at the targeted location. Furthermore, early pulses impaired performance at all four locations, compared to late pulses. Next, response errors were fit empirically using a mixture model analysis to characterize memory precision and guess rates. Memory was more precise for items proximal to the pulse location, irrespective of pulse timing. Guesses were more probable with early TMS pulses, regardless of stimulus location. Thus, whereas TMS administered at the offset of the stimulus array might disrupt early-phase consolidation in a topographically unspecific manner, TMS also boosts the precise representation of an item at its targeted retinotopic location, perhaps by increasing attentional resources or by injecting a beneficial amount of noise.

scholarly journals The Neural Correlates of Phonological Short-term Memory: A Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 1147-1155 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Romero ◽  
V. Walsh ◽  
C. Papagno
Keyword(s):  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Short Term Storage ◽  
Term Storage

Neuropsychological reports and activation studies by means of positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging have suggested that the neural correlates of phonological short-term memory are located in the left hemisphere, with Brodmann's area (BA) 40 being responsible for short-term storage, and BA 44 for articulatory rehearsal. However, a careful review of the literature on the role of left BA 40 shows that the data are equivocal. We tested these hypotheses by means of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Participants performed four tasks: two phonological judgements, thought to require only articulatory rehearsal without the contribution of short-term storage; a digit span, which involves both, short-term storage and articulatory rehearsal; and a pattern span, this last being the control task. The sites of stimulation were left BA 40, left BA 44 and the electrode location vtx, plus a baseline without TMS. Reaction times increased and accuracy decreased in the case of the phonological judgements and digit span after stimulation of both left sites, suggesting that BA 40, in addition to BA 44, is involved in phonological judgements. Possible explanations are discussed, namely, the possibility that (i) the neural correlates of rehearsal are not limited to BA 44 and (ii) phonological judgements involve processes other than rehearsal. We also consider the effects of using different tasks and responses to resolve some of the discrepancies in the literature.

Visual short-term memory: Activity supporting encoding and maintenance in retinotopic visual cortex

NeuroImage ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus H. Sneve ◽  
Dag Alnæs ◽  
Tor Endestad ◽  
Mark W. Greenlee ◽  
Svein Magnussen
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory

scholarly journals Causal evidence for the role of the sensory visual cortex in visual short-term memory maintenance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phivos Phylactou ◽  
Andria Shimi ◽  
Nikos Konstantinou
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory ◽  
Behavioural Effects ◽  
Visual Hemifield

The role of the sensory visual cortex during visual short-term memory (VSTM) remains controversial. This controversy is possibly due to methodological issues in previous attempts to investigate the effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) on VSTM. This study aims to use TMS, while covering previous methodological deficits. Young adults will be recruited to participate in two experiments using a VSTM orientation change-detection under TMS. Monocular vision will be ensured using red-blue goggles combined with red-blue stimuli. Double-pulse TMS will be delivered at different times (Experiment 1: 0ms, 200ms, or 1000ms; Experiment 2: 200ms, 1000ms) during a 2 s retention phase, on one side of the occipital hemisphere (right hemisphere for 50% of the participants). In experiment 2, a sham-TMS condition will be introduced. Behavioural effects in the ipsilateral occipital hemisphere to visual hemifield will indicate a causal involvement of the sensory visual cortex during a specific temporal point in VSTM.

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