The visuospatial sketchpad: One working memory system or two?

The working memory model with distributed executive control accounts for the interactions between working memory and multi-tasking performance. The working memory system supports planned actions by relying on two capacity-limited domain-general and two time-limited domain-specific modules. Domain-general modules are the episodic buffer and the executive module. The episodic buffer stores multimodal representations and uses attentional refreshment to counteract information loss and to consolidate information in episodic long-term memory. The executive module maintains domain-general information relevant for the current task. The phonological buffer and the visuospatial module are domain specific; the former uses inner speech to maintain and to rehearse phonological information, whereas the latter holds visual and spatial representations active by means of image revival. For its operation, working memory interacts with declarative and procedural long-term memory, gets input from sensory registers, and uses the motor system for output.

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An fMRI Study of Functional Abnormalities in the Verbal Working Memory System and the Relationship to Clinical Symptoms in Chronic Schizophrenia

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhp079 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 46-60 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Ryu-ichiro Hashimoto ◽

KangUk Lee ◽

Alexander Preus ◽

Robert W. McCarley ◽

Cynthia G. Wible

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Chronic Schizophrenia ◽

Memory System ◽

Fmri Study ◽

The Relationship

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Second Language Working Memory Deficits and Plasticity in Hearing Bimodal Learners of Sign Language

Psychology of Language and Communication ◽

10.1515/plc-2015-0008 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 128-148 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Joshua Williams ◽

Isabelle Darcy ◽

Sharlene Newman

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Second Language ◽

American Sign Language ◽

Sign Language ◽

First Language ◽

Memory Deficits ◽

Spoken Language ◽

American Sign ◽

Visuospatial Sketchpad ◽

Language Modality

AbstractLittle is known about the acquisition of another language modality on second language (L2) working memory (WM) capacity. Differential indexing within the WM system based on language modality may explain differences in performance on WM tasks in sign and spoken language. We investigated the effect of language modality (sign versus spoken) on L2 WM capacity. Results indicated reduced L2 WM span relative to first language span for both L2 learners of Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL). Importantly, ASL learners had lower L2 WM spans than Spanish learners. Additionally, ASL learners increased their L2 WM spans as a function of proficiency, whereas Spanish learners did not. This pattern of results demonstrated that acquiring another language modality disadvantages ASL learners. We posited that this disadvantage arises out of an inability to correctly and efficiently allocate linguistic information to the visuospatial sketchpad due to L1-related indexing bias.

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Working Memory as Separable Subsystems: a Study with Portuguese Primary School Children

The Spanish Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1017/sjp.2013.6 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 16 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Isabel S. Campos ◽

Leandro S. Almeida ◽

Aristides I. Ferreira ◽

Luis F. Martinez

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Phonological Loop ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Factor Analyses ◽

Confirmatory Factor Analyses ◽

Domain Specific ◽

Visuospatial Sketchpad ◽

Confirmatory Factor ◽

Visuospatial Information ◽

Best Fit

AbstractAlthough much research has been done to study the working memory structure in children in their first school years, the relation of cognitive constructs involved in this process remains uncertain. In particular, it is unclear whether working memory is a domain general construct that coordinates separate codes of verbal and visuospatial storage or whether it is a domain-specific construct with distinct resources of verbal and visuospatial information. This paper investigates the structure of working memory, by using the Working Memory Test Battery for Children (WMTB-C) and by doing confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) on a sample of Portuguese children (n = 103) between 8 and 9 years of age. The results of the confirmatory factor analyses that provide the best fit of the data correspond to the model that includes Central Executive and Visuospatial Sketchpad in the same factor, co-varying with a Phonological Loop factor. Moreover, the traditional working memory tripartite structure – based on the Baddeley and Hitch Model – revealed good fit to the data.

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Processing efficiency of a verbal working memory system is modulated by amphetamine: an fMRI investigation

Psychopharmacology ◽

10.1007/s00213-005-0025-4 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 180 (4) ◽

pp. 634-643 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Christine M. Tipper ◽

Tara A. Cairo ◽

Todd S. Woodward ◽

Anthony G. Phillips ◽

Peter F. Liddle ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Memory System ◽

Processing Efficiency

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Very Early Brain Damage Leads to Remodeling of the Working Memory System in Adulthood: A Combined fMRI/Tractography Study

Journal of Neuroscience ◽

10.1523/jneurosci.4769-14.2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 35 (48) ◽

pp. 15787-15799 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

S. Froudist-Walsh ◽

V. Karolis ◽

C. Caldinelli ◽

P. J. Brittain ◽

J. Kroll ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Brain Damage ◽

Memory System

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Anterior thalamic nuclei neurons sustain memory

10.1101/2021.08.25.457615 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

S. C. Barnett ◽

L.C. Parr-Brownlie ◽

B. A. L. Perry ◽

C. K. Young ◽

H. E. Wicky ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Electrical Activity ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Memory Function ◽

Memory System ◽

Mammillary Body ◽

Thalamic Nuclei ◽

Anterior Thalamus ◽

Anterior Thalamic Nuclei ◽

Mammillothalamic Tract

AbstractA hippocampal-diencephalic-cortical network supports memory function. The anterior thalamic nuclei (ATN) form a key anatomical hub within this system. Consistent with this, injury to the mammillary body-ATN axis is associated with examples of clinical amnesia. However, there is only limited and indirect support that the output of ATN neurons actively enhances memory. Here, in rats, we first showed that mammillothalamic tract (MTT) lesions caused a persistent impairment in spatial working memory. MTT lesions also reduced rhythmic electrical activity across the memory system. Next, we introduced 8.5 Hz optogenetic theta-burst stimulation of the ATN glutamatergic neurons. The exogenously-triggered, regular pattern of stimulation produced an acute and substantial improvement of spatial working memory in rats with MTT lesions and enhanced rhythmic electrical activity. Neither behaviour nor rhythmic activity was affected by endogenous stimulation derived from the dorsal hippocampus. Analysis of immediate early gene activity, after the rats foraged for food in an open field, showed that exogenously-triggered ATN stimulation also increased Zif268 expression across memory-related structures. These findings provide clear evidence that increased ATN neuronal activity supports memory. They suggest that ATN-focused gene therapy may be feasible to counter clinical amnesia associated with dysfunction in the mammillary body-ATN axis.HighlightsThe mammillothalamic tract (MTT) supports neural activity in an extended memory system.Optogenetic activation of neurons in the anterior thalamus acutely improves memory after MTT lesions.Rescued memory associates with system-wide neuronal activation and enhanced EEG.Anterior thalamus actively sustains memory and is a feasible therapeutic target.Abstract FigureOptostimulation of anterior thalamus restores memory function after MTT lesionsCreated with BioRender.com

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Evidence for a Visuo-Spatial Scratch-Pad in Working Memory

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A ◽

10.1080/14640748608401620 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 38 (4) ◽

pp. 675-688 ◽

Cited By ~ 123

Author(s):

Eric W. Farmer ◽

Jonathan V. F. Berman ◽

Yvonne L. Fletcher

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Articulatory Suppression ◽

Spatial Reasoning ◽

Memory System ◽

Reasoning Task ◽

Verbal Reasoning ◽

Concurrent Performance

Experiments are reported which address the nature of the working memory system. Articulatory suppression (continuous recital of the digits 1 to 4) disrupted concurrent performance of a verbal reasoning task, but had no effect upon performance of a spatial reasoning task. In contrast, spatial suppression (continuous sequential tapping) produced reliable interference only with spatial reasoning. These findings are taken as consistent with Baddeley's argument for two slave systems in working memory: the articulatory loop and the more controversial visuo-spatial scratch-pad.

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