scholarly journals A novel paradigm for assessing olfactory working memory capacity in mice

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Geng-Di Huang ◽  
Li-Xin Jiang ◽  
Feng Su ◽  
Hua-Li Wang ◽  
Chen Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Rule Learning ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Average Error ◽  
Mice Model ◽  
Percent Correct

AbstractA decline in working memory (WM) capacity is suggested to be one of the earliest symptoms observed in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Although WM capacity is widely studied in healthy subjects and neuropsychiatric patients, few tasks are developed to measure this variation in rodents. The present study describes a novel olfactory working memory capacity (OWMC) task, which assesses the ability of mice to remember multiple odours. The task was divided into five phases: context adaptation, digging training, rule-learning for non-matching to a single-sample odour (NMSS), rule-learning for non-matching to multiple sample odours (NMMS) and capacity testing. During the capacity-testing phase, the WM capacity (number of odours that the mice could remember) remained stable (average capacity ranged from 6.11 to 7.00) across different testing sessions in C57 mice. As the memory load increased, the average errors of each capacity level increased and the percent correct gradually declined to chance level, which suggested a limited OWMC in C57 mice. Then, we assessed the OWMC of 5 × FAD transgenic mice, an animal model of AD. We found that the performance displayed no significant differences between young adult (3-month-old) 5 × FAD mice and wild-type (WT) mice during the NMSS phase and NMMS phase; however, during the capacity test with increasing load, we found that the OWMC of young adult 5 × FAD mice was significantly decreased compared with WT mice, and the average error was significantly increased while the percent correct was significantly reduced, which indicated an impairment of WM capacity at the early stage of AD in the 5 × FAD mice model. Finally, we found that FOS protein levels in the medial prefrontal cortex and entorhinal cortex after the capacity test were significantly lower in 5 × FAD than WT mice. In conclusion, we developed a novel paradigm to assess the capacity of olfactory WM in mice, and we found that OWMC was impaired in the early stage of AD.

scholarly journals Working Memory Capacity and Visual–Verbal Cognitive Load Modulate Auditory–Sensory Gating in the Brainstem: Toward a Unified View of Attention

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 2147-2154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrik Sörqvist ◽  
Stefan Stenfelt ◽  
Jerker Rönnberg
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Load Condition ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Central Domain ◽  
Brainstem Response ◽  
Unified View

Two fundamental research questions have driven attention research in the past: One concerns whether selection of relevant information among competing, irrelevant, information takes place at an early or at a late processing stage; the other concerns whether the capacity of attention is limited by a central, domain-general pool of resources or by independent, modality-specific pools. In this article, we contribute to these debates by showing that the auditory-evoked brainstem response (an early stage of auditory processing) to task-irrelevant sound decreases as a function of central working memory load (manipulated with a visual–verbal version of the n-back task). Furthermore, individual differences in central/domain-general working memory capacity modulated the magnitude of the auditory-evoked brainstem response, but only in the high working memory load condition. The results support a unified view of attention whereby the capacity of a late/central mechanism (working memory) modulates early precortical sensory processing.

Measuring Working Memory Capacity With Automated Complex Span Tasks

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 164-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas S. Redick ◽  
James M. Broadway ◽  
Matt E. Meier ◽  
Princy S. Kuriakose ◽  
Nash Unsworth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Normative Data ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Reading Span ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Span Tasks

Individual differences in working memory capacity are related to a variety of behaviors both within and outside of the lab. Recently developed automated complex span tasks have contributed to increasing our knowledge concerning working memory capacity by making valid and reliable assessments freely available for use by researchers. Combining the samples from three testing locations yielded data from over 6,000 young adult participants who performed at least one of three such tasks (Operation, Symmetry, and Reading Span). Normative data are presented here for researchers interested in applying cutoffs for their own applications, and information on the validity and reliability of the tasks is also reported. In addition, the data were analyzed as a function of sex and college status. While automated complex span tasks are just one way to measure working memory capacity, the use of a standardized procedure for administration and scoring greatly facilitates comparison across studies.

Working Memory Load Selectively Influences Response Inhibition in a Stop Signal Task

2020 ◽  
pp. 003329412092827
Author(s):  
Leanne Boucher ◽  
Brandi Viparina ◽  
W. Matthew Collins
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Stop Signal ◽  
Stop Signal Task ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Stop Signal Reaction Time ◽  
Load Conditions

Inhibitory control is a key executive function and has been studied extensively using the stop signal task. By applying a simple race model that posits an independent race between a GO process responsible for initiation of responses and a STOP process responsible for inhibition of responses, one can estimate how long it takes an individual to inhibit an ongoing response, the stop signal reaction time. Here, we examined how stop signal reaction time can be affected by working memory. Participants engaged in a dual task; they completed a stop signal task under low and high working memory load conditions. Working memory capacity was also measured. We found that the STOP process was lengthened in the high, compared to the low, working memory load condition, as evidenced by differences in stop signal reaction time. The GO process was unaffected and working memory capacity could not account for differences across the load conditions. These results indicate that inhibitory control can be influenced by placing demands on working memory.

scholarly journals Working Memory Capacity Is Negatively Associated with Memory Load Modulation of Alpha Oscillations in Retention of Verbal Working Memory

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 1933-1945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenhong Hu ◽  
Christopher M. Barkley ◽  
Susan E. Marino ◽  
Chao Wang ◽  
Abhijit Rajan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Alpha Oscillations ◽  
Load Modulation ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
With Memory

Working memory capacity (WMC) measures the amount of information that can be maintained online in the face of distraction. Past work has shown that the efficiency with which the frontostriatal circuit filters out task-irrelevant distracting information is positively correlated with WMC. Recent work has demonstrated a role of posterior alpha oscillations (8–13 Hz) in providing a sensory gating mechanism. We investigated the relationship between memory load modulation of alpha power and WMC in two verbal working memory experiments. In both experiments, we found that posterior alpha power increased with memory load during memory, in agreement with previous reports. Across individuals, the degree of alpha power modulation by memory load was negatively associated with WMC, namely, the higher the WMC, the less alpha power was modulated by memory load. After the administration of topiramate, a drug known to affect alpha oscillations and have a negative impact on working memory function, the negative correlation between memory load modulation of alpha power and WMC was no longer statistically significant but still somewhat detectable. These results suggest that (1) individuals with low WMC demonstrate stronger alpha power modulation by memory load, reflecting possibly an increased reliance on sensory gating to suppress task-irrelevant information in these individuals, in contrast to their high WMC counterparts who rely more on frontal areas to perform this function and (2) this negative association between memory load modulation of alpha oscillations and WMC is vulnerable to drug-related cognitive disruption.

scholarly journals Consecutive Interpretation: A Discourse Approach. Towards a Revision of Gile’s Effort Model

2009 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangjun Wu ◽  
Kefei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Observational Study ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Transformation Model ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Consecutive Interpreting

Abstract In reality, expert interpreters from time to time do successfully tide over the gap between the capacity required and capacity available in dealing with extraordinarily large segments in consecutive interpretation. These exceptional cases imply that Gile’s Effort Model does not always hold and requires to be supplemented. This paper attempts to: 1) advance a solution to the dilemma that, in processing large segments in consecutive interpreting, the working memory capacity available is more often than not smaller than the capacity required, hence supplementing Gile’s Effort Model; 2) specify the rules of discourse transformation in consecutive interpretation; based upon the features of memory and consecutive interpretation, we deem that each segment, be it large or small, shall be processed as a discourse, the transformation of which is presumed to be the said solution; 3) and subsequently identify the optimal discourse transformation model, which is both capable of embodying the source text to the largest extent possible and achievable in terms of memory load. In addition, the author, through an observational study, justified the hypothesis. The validity of this theory, however, still requires further experimental evidence.

Visual Information Can Hinder Working Memory Processing of Speech

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 1120-1132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sushmit Mishra ◽  
Thomas Lunner ◽  
Stefan Stenfelt ◽  
Jerker Rönnberg ◽  
Mary Rudner
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Free Recall ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Spare Capacity ◽  
Executive Processing

Purpose The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the new Cognitive Spare Capacity Test (CSCT), which measures aspects of working memory capacity for heard speech in the audiovisual and auditory-only modalities of presentation. Method In Experiment 1, 20 young adults with normal hearing performed the CSCT and an independent battery of cognitive tests. In the CSCT, they listened to and recalled 2-digit numbers according to instructions inducing executive processing at 2 different memory loads. In Experiment 2, 10 participants performed a less executively demanding free recall task using the same stimuli. Results CSCT performance demonstrated an effect of memory load and was associated with independent measures of executive function and inference making but not with general working memory capacity. Audiovisual presentation was associated with lower CSCT scores but higher free recall performance scores. Conclusions CSCT is an executively challenging test of the ability to process heard speech. It captures cognitive aspects of listening related to sentence comprehension that are quantitatively and qualitatively different from working memory capacity. Visual information provided in the audiovisual modality of presentation can hinder executive processing in working memory of nondegraded speech material.

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