Spectral slowing is associated with working memory performance in children born very preterm

Abstract Children born very preterm (VPT) often demonstrate selective difficulties in working memory (WM), which may underlie academic difficulties observed in this population. Despite this, few studies have investigated the functional networks underlying WM in young children born VPT, a period when cognitive deficits become apparent. Using magnetoencephalography, we examined the networks underlying the maintenance of visual information in 6-year-old VPT (n = 15) and full-term (FT; n = 20) children. Although task performance was similar, VPT children engaged different oscillatory mechanisms during WM maintenance. Within the FT group, we observed higher mean whole-brain connectivity in the alpha-band during the retention (i.e. maintenance) interval associated with correct compared to incorrect responses. VPT children showed reduced whole-brain alpha synchrony, and a different network organization with fewer connections. In the theta-band, VPT children demonstrated a slight increase in whole-brain connectivity during WM maintenance, and engaged similar network hubs as FT children in the alpha-band, including the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and superior temporal gyrus. These findings suggest that VPT children rely on the theta-band to support similar task performance. Altered oscillatory mechanisms may reflect a less mature pattern of functional recruitment underlying WM in VPT children, which may affect the processing in complex ecological situations.

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Task-induced functional brain connectivity mediates the relationship between striatal D2/3 receptors and working memory

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.45045 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Matthew M Nour ◽

Tarik Dahoun ◽

Robert A McCutcheon ◽

Rick A Adams ◽

Matthew B Wall ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Functional Connectivity ◽

Task Performance ◽

Memory Load ◽

Brain Connectivity ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Age Related ◽

Positron Emission ◽

The Relationship ◽

And Task

Working memory performance is thought to depend on both striatal dopamine 2/3 receptors (D2/3Rs) and task-induced functional organisation in key cortical brain networks. Here, we combine functional magnetic resonance imaging and D2/3R positron emission tomography in 51 healthy volunteers, to investigate the relationship between working memory performance, task-induced default mode network (DMN) functional connectivity changes, and striatal D2/3R availability. Increasing working memory load was associated with reduced DMN functional connectivity, which was itself associated with poorer task performance. Crucially, the magnitude of the DMN connectivity reduction correlated with striatal D2/3R availability, particularly in the caudate, and this relationship mediated the relationship between striatal D2/3R availability and task performance. These results inform our understanding of natural variation in working memory performance, and have implications for understanding age-related cognitive decline and cognitive impairments in neuropsychiatric disorders where dopamine signalling is altered.

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Working Memory Performance under a Negative Affect Is More Susceptible to Higher Cognitive Workloads with Different Neural Haemodynamic Correlates

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci11070935 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 935

Author(s):

Ying Xing Feng ◽

Masashi Kiguchi ◽

Wei Chun Ung ◽

Sarat Chandra Dass ◽

Ahmad Fadzil Mohd Hani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Task Performance ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Affective State ◽

Memory Task ◽

Interactive Effects ◽

Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽

Affective Factors ◽

Related Stress ◽

Haemodynamic Activity

The effect of stress on task performance is complex, too much or too little stress negatively affects performance and there exists an optimal level of stress to drive optimal performance. Task difficulty and external affective factors are distinct stressors that impact cognitive performance. Neuroimaging studies showed that mood affects working memory performance and the correlates are changes in haemodynamic activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). We investigate the interactive effects of affective states and working memory load (WML) on working memory task performance and haemodynamic activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) neuroimaging on the PFC of healthy participants. We seek to understand if haemodynamic responses could tell apart workload-related stress from situational stress arising from external affective distraction. We found that the haemodynamic changes towards affective stressor- and workload-related stress were more dominant in the medial and lateral PFC, respectively. Our study reveals distinct affective state-dependent modulations of haemodynamic activity with increasing WML in n-back tasks, which correlate with decreasing performance. The influence of a negative effect on performance is greater at higher WML, and haemodynamic activity showed evident changes in temporal, and both spatial and strength of activation differently with WML.

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Visuospatial Working Memory Deficits and Visual Pursuit Impairments are Not Directly Related in Schizophrenia

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1080/00048670903001901 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 43 (8) ◽

pp. 766-774 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Luca Cocchi ◽

Francesca Bosisio ◽

Olivia Carter ◽

Stephen J. Wood ◽

André Berchtold ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Task Performance ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Correct Choice ◽

Head Movements ◽

Visuospatial Working Memory ◽

Visual Pursuit ◽

Scanning Time ◽

Time Scanning ◽

Correct Path

Objective: Patients with schizophrenia show deficits in visuospatial working memory and visual pursuit processes. It is currently unclear, however, whether both impairments are related to a common neuropathological origin. The purpose of the present study was therefore to examine the possible relations between the encoding and the discrimination of dynamic visuospatial stimuli in schizophrenia. Method: Sixteen outpatients with schizophrenia and 16 control subjects were asked to encode complex disc displacements presented on a screen. After a delay, participants had to identify the previously presented disc trajectory from a choice of six static linear paths, among which were five incorrect paths. The precision of visual pursuit eye movements during the initial presentation of the dynamic stimulus was assessed. The fixations and scanning time in definite regions of the six paths presented during the discrimination phase were investigated. Results: In comparison with controls, patients showed poorer task performance, reduced pursuit accuracy during incorrect trials and less time scanning the correct stimulus or the incorrect paths approximating its global structure. Patients also spent less time scanning the leftmost portion of the correct path even when making a correct choice. The accuracy of visual pursuit and head movements, however, was not correlated with task performance. Conclusions: The present study provides direct support for the hypothesis that active integration of visuospatial information within working memory is deficient in schizophrenia. In contrast, a general impairment of oculomotor mechanisms involved in smooth pursuit did not appear to be directly related to lower visuospatial working memory performance in schizophrenia.

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Temporal Dynamics of Attention during Encoding versus Maintenance of Working Memory: Complementary Views from Event-related Potentials and Alpha-band Oscillations

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_00727 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 492-508 ◽

Cited By ~ 62

Author(s):

Nicholas E. Myers ◽

Lena Walther ◽

George Wallis ◽

Mark G. Stokes ◽

Anna C. Nobre

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Visual Information ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Recall Performance ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Alpha Band ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Frontoparietal Control Network ◽

Anticipatory Attention ◽

Processing Differences

Working memory (WM) is strongly influenced by attention. In visual WM tasks, recall performance can be improved by an attention-guiding cue presented before encoding (precue) or during maintenance (retrocue). Although precues and retrocues recruit a similar frontoparietal control network, the two are likely to exhibit some processing differences, because precues invite anticipation of upcoming information whereas retrocues may guide prioritization, protection, and selection of information already in mind. Here we explored the behavioral and electrophysiological differences between precueing and retrocueing in a new visual WM task designed to permit a direct comparison between cueing conditions. We found marked differences in ERP profiles between the precue and retrocue conditions. In line with precues primarily generating an anticipatory shift of attention toward the location of an upcoming item, we found a robust lateralization in late cue-evoked potentials associated with target anticipation. Retrocues elicited a different pattern of ERPs that was compatible with an early selection mechanism, but not with stimulus anticipation. In contrast to the distinct ERP patterns, alpha-band (8–14 Hz) lateralization was indistinguishable between cue types (reflecting, in both conditions, the location of the cued item). We speculate that, whereas alpha-band lateralization after a precue is likely to enable anticipatory attention, lateralization after a retrocue may instead enable the controlled spatiotopic access to recently encoded visual information.

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Greater Visual Working Memory Capacity for Visually Matched Stimuli When They Are Perceived as Meaningful

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_01693 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 33 (5) ◽

pp. 902-918 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Isabel E. Asp ◽

Viola S. Störmer ◽

Timothy F. Brady

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Visual Working Memory ◽

Visual Information ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Visual Complexity ◽

Memory Capacity ◽

Subjective Perception ◽

Neural Delay ◽

Meaningful Stimuli

Abstract Almost all models of visual working memory—the cognitive system that holds visual information in an active state—assume it has a fixed capacity: Some models propose a limit of three to four objects, where others propose there is a fixed pool of resources for each basic visual feature. Recent findings, however, suggest that memory performance is improved for real-world objects. What supports these increases in capacity? Here, we test whether the meaningfulness of a stimulus alone influences working memory capacity while controlling for visual complexity and directly assessing the active component of working memory using EEG. Participants remembered ambiguous stimuli that could either be perceived as a face or as meaningless shapes. Participants had higher performance and increased neural delay activity when the memory display consisted of more meaningful stimuli. Critically, by asking participants whether they perceived the stimuli as a face or not, we also show that these increases in visual working memory capacity and recruitment of additional neural resources are because of the subjective perception of the stimulus and thus cannot be driven by physical properties of the stimulus. Broadly, this suggests that the capacity for active storage in visual working memory is not fixed but that more meaningful stimuli recruit additional working memory resources, allowing them to be better remembered.

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A prediction model of working memory across health and psychiatric disease using whole-brain functional connectivity

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.38844 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Masahiro Yamashita ◽

Yujiro Yoshihara ◽

Ryuichiro Hashimoto ◽

Noriaki Yahata ◽

Naho Ichikawa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Brain Connectivity ◽

Neural Mechanism ◽

Quantitative Model ◽

Psychiatric Disease ◽

Healthy Population ◽

Psychiatric Diseases ◽

Whole Brain ◽

Memory Ability ◽

Neuropsychiatric Diseases

Working memory deficits are present in many neuropsychiatric diseases with diagnosis-related severity. However, it is unknown whether this common behavioral abnormality is a continuum explained by a neural mechanism shared across diseases or a set of discrete dysfunctions. Here, we performed predictive modeling to examine working memory ability (WMA) as a function of normative whole-brain connectivity across psychiatric diseases. We built a quantitative model for letter three-back task performance in healthy participants, using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). This normative model was applied to independent participants (N = 965) including four psychiatric diagnoses. Individual’s predicted WMA significantly correlated with a measured WMA in both healthy population and schizophrenia. Our predicted effect size estimates on WMA impairment were comparable to previous meta-analysis results. These results suggest a general association between brain connectivity and working memory ability applicable commonly to health and psychiatric diseases.

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Working memory performance inversely predicts spontaneous delta and theta-band scaling relations

Brain Research ◽

10.1016/j.brainres.2016.02.008 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 1637 ◽

pp. 22-33 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Matthew J. Euler ◽

Travis J. Wiltshire ◽

Madison A. Niermeyer ◽

Jonathan E. Butner

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Scaling Relations ◽

Theta Band

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Emotional Facial Processing: Does Cognitive Load Make a Difference?

10.31124/advance.7295918.v1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Elsie Ong ◽

Rick Law Tsz Chun

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Cognitive Load ◽

Task Performance ◽

Cognitive Processing ◽

Research Study ◽

Memory Span ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Emotional Faces ◽

Low Level ◽

Facial Processing

<p>The manuscript is titled ‘Emotional facial processing: does cognitive load make a difference?’ and it describes a research study that measures how emotion and distraction of different cognitive loads may impact working memory performance. The findings show that cognitive load on working memory performance, with poorer working memory performance in the high compared to the low level of distraction. However, no effects of emotional faces were found on task performance. The work therefore has significance with regard to cognitive processing and working memory span.</p>

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Salient distractors open the door of perception: alpha desynchronization marks sensory gating in a working memory task

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-76190-3 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Zsuzsanna Fodor ◽

Csilla Marosi ◽

László Tombor ◽

Gábor Csukly

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Memory Task ◽

Relevant Information ◽

Alpha Band ◽

Theta Band ◽

Retention Period ◽

Alpha Frequency ◽

Task Irrelevant ◽

Spectral Perturbation ◽

Distractor Rejection

Abstract Focusing attention on relevant information while ignoring distracting stimuli is essential to the efficacy of working memory. Alpha- and theta-band oscillations have been linked to the inhibition of anticipated and attentionally avoidable distractors. However, the neurophysiological background of the rejection of task-irrelevant stimuli appearing in the focus of attention is not fully understood. We aimed to examine whether theta and alpha-band oscillations serve as an indicator of successful distractor rejection. Twenty-four students were enrolled in the study. 64-channel EEG was recorded during a modified Sternberg working memory task where weak and strong (salient) distractors were presented during the retention period. Event-related spectral perturbation in the alpha frequency band was significantly modulated by the saliency of the distracting stimuli, while theta oscillation was modulated by the need for cognitive control. Moreover, stronger alpha desynchronization to strong relative to weak distracting stimuli significantly increased the probability of mistakenly identifying the presented distractor as a member of the memory sequence. Therefore, our results suggest that alpha activity reflects the vulnerability of attention to distracting salient stimuli.

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