Inhibition of Visual Discrimination During a Memory-Guided Saccade Task

2004 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 660-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Ostendorf ◽  
Carsten Finke ◽  
Christoph J. Ploner
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Visual Discrimination ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Tight Coupling ◽  
Spatial Cues ◽  
Memory Representations ◽  
Voluntary Behavior ◽  
Saccade Task ◽  
Term Maintenance

Voluntary behavior critically depends on attentional selection and short-term maintenance of perceptual information. Recent research suggests a tight coupling of both cognitive functions with visual processing being selectively enhanced by working memory representations. Here, we combined a memory-guided saccade paradigm (6-s delay) with a visual discrimination task, performed either 1,500, 2,500, or 3,500 ms after presentation of the memory cue. Contrary to what can be expected from previous studies, our results show that memory of spatial cues can transiently delay speeded discrimination of stimuli presented at remembered locations. This effect was not observed in a control experiment without memory requirements. Furthermore, delayed discrimination was dependent on the strength of actual memory representations as reflected by accuracy of memory-guided saccades. We propose an active inhibitory mechanism that counteracts facilitating effects of spatial working memory, promoting flexible orienting to novel information during maintenance of spatial memoranda for intended actions. Inhibitory delay-period activity in prefrontal cortex is a likely source for this mechanism which may be mediated by prefronto-tectal projections.

scholarly journals The role of prefrontal cortex in working memory: examining the contents of consciousness

1998 ◽  
Vol 353 (1377) ◽  
pp. 1819-1828 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
S. M. Courtney ◽  
L. Petit ◽  
J. V. Haxby ◽  
L. G. Ungerleider
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Domain Specificity ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
The Right

Working memory enables us to hold in our ‘mind's eye’ the contents of our conscious awareness, even in the absence of sensory input, by maintaining an active representation of information for a brief period of time. In this review we consider the functional organization of the prefrontal cortex and its role in this cognitive process. First, we present evidence from brain–imaging studies that prefrontal cortex shows sustained activity during the delay period of visual working memory tasks, indicating that this cortex maintains on–line representations of stimuli after they are removed from view. We then present evidence for domain specificity within frontal cortex based on the type of information, with object working memory mediated by more ventral frontal regions and spatial working memory mediated by more dorsal frontal regions. We also propose that a second dimension for domain specificity within prefrontal cortex might exist for object working memory on the basis of the type of representation, with analytic representations maintained preferentially in the left hemisphere and image–based representations maintained preferentially in the right hemisphere. Furthermore, we discuss the possibility that there are prefrontal areas brought into play during the monitoring and manipulation of information in working memory in addition to those engaged during the maintenance of this information. Finally, we consider the relationship of prefrontal areas important for working memory, both to posterior visual processing areas and to prefrontal areas associated with long–term memory.

Neuropsychological impairment in patients with major depressive disorder: the effects of feedback on task performance

2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. C. MURPHY ◽  
A. MICHAEL ◽  
T. W. ROBBINS ◽  
B. J. SAHAKIAN
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Negative Feedback ◽  
Performance Feedback ◽  
Visual Discrimination ◽  
Negative Reinforcement ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Depressive Illness ◽  
Reversal Task ◽  
Depressed Patients

Background. Recent evidence suggests that an abnormal response to performance feedback may contribute to the wide-ranging neuropsychological deficits typically associated with depressive illness. The present research sought to determine whether the inability of depressed patients to utilize performance feedback advantageously is equally true for accurate and misleading feedback.Method. Patients with major depression and matched controls completed: (1) a visual discrimination and reversal task that featured intermittent and misleading negative feedback; and (2) feedback and no-feedback versions of a computerised test of spatial working memory. In the feedback version, negative feedback was accurate, highly informative, and could be used as a mnemonic aid.Results. On the Probability Reversal task, depressed patients were impaired in their ability to maintain response set in the face of misleading negative feedback as shown by their increased tendency to switch responding to the ‘incorrect’ stimulus following negative reinforcement, relative to that of controls. Patients' ability to acquire and reverse the necessary visual discrimination was unimpaired. On the Spatial Working Memory task, depressed patients made significantly more between-search errors than controls on the most difficult trials, but their ability to use negative feedback to facilitate performance remained intact.Conclusions. The present results suggest that feedback can have different effects in different contexts. Misleading, negative feedback appears to disrupt the performance of depressed patients, whereas negative but accurate feedback does not. These findings are considered in the context of recent studies on reinforcement systems and their associated neurobiological substrates.

scholarly journals Cognitive Effects of Perioperative Pregabalin

2019 ◽  
Vol 130 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Myhre ◽  
Henrik Børsting Jacobsen ◽  
Stein Andersson ◽  
Audun Stubhaug
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Rate Ratio ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Donor Nephrectomy ◽  
Stop Signal Task ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Psychomotor Speed ◽  
Opioid Sparing ◽  
Increased Risk

Abstract EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE What We Already Know about This Topic Perioperative administration of pregabalin has been associated with decreased postoperative pain and opioid requirements What This Article Tells Us That Is New This secondary analysis of data demonstrating that perioperative administration of pregabalin was associated with a reduction in opioid requirements and incisional hyperalgesia suggests that these benefits may be compromised by an increased risk of developing impaired postoperative cognitive performance Background Pregabalin has shown opioid sparing and analgesic effects in the early postoperative period; however, perioperative effects on cognition have not been studied. A randomized, parallel group, placebo-controlled investigation in 80 donor nephrectomy patients was previously performed that evaluated the analgesic, opioid-sparing, and antihyperalgesic effects of pregabalin. This article describes a secondary exploratory analysis that tested the hypothesis that pregabalin would impair cognitive function compared to placebo. Methods Eighty patients scheduled for donor nephrectomy participated in this randomized, placebo-controlled study. Pregabalin (150 mg twice daily, n = 40) or placebo (n = 40) was administered on the day of surgery and the first postoperative day, in addition to a pain regimen consisting of opioids, steroids, local anesthetics, and acetaminophen. Specific cognitive tests measuring inhibition, sustained attention, psychomotor speed, visual memory, and strategy were performed at baseline, 24 h, and 3 to 5 days after surgery, using tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Results In the spatial working memory within errors test, the number of errors increased with pregabalin compared to placebo 24 h after surgery; median (25th, 75th percentile) values were 1 (0, 6) versus 0 (0, 1; rate ratio [95% CI], 3.20 [1.55 to 6.62]; P = 0.002). Furthermore, pregabalin significantly increased the number of errors in the stop-signal task stop-go test compared with placebo; median (25th, 75th percentile) values were 3 (1, 6) versus 1 (0, 2; rate ratio, 2.14 [1.13 to 4.07]; P = 0.020). There were no significant differences between groups in the paired associated learning, reaction time, rapid visual processing, or spatial working memory strategy tests. Conclusions Perioperative pregabalin significantly negatively affected subdomains of executive functioning, including inhibition, and working memory compared to placebo, whereas psychomotor speed was not changed.

scholarly journals Problematic internet use: an exploration of associations between cognition and COMT rs4818, rs4680 haplotypes

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-418
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Ioannidis ◽  
Sarah A. Redden ◽  
Stephanie Valle ◽  
Samuel R. Chamberlain ◽  
Jon E. Grant
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Internet Use ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Problematic Internet Use ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Internet Users

ObjectiveProblematic internet users suffer from impairment in a variety of cognitive domains. Research suggests that COMT haplotypes exert differential effects on cognition. We sought to investigate differences in the genetic profiles of problematic internet users and whether those could shed light on potential cognitive differences.MethodsWe recruited 206 non-treatment seeking participants with heightened impulsive traits and obtained cross-sectional demographic, clinical, and cognitive data as well as the genetic haplotypes of COMT rs4680 and rs4818. We identified 24 participants who presented with problematic internet use (PIU) and compared PIU and non-PIU participants using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and chi square as appropriate.ResultsPIU was associated with worse performance on decision making, rapid visual processing, and spatial working memory tasks. Genetic variants were associated with altered cognitive performance, but rates of PIU did not statistically differ for particular haplotypes of COMT.ConclusionThis study indicates that PIU is characterized by deficits in decision making and working memory domains; it also provides evidence for elevated impulsive responses and impaired target detection on a sustained attention task, which is a novel area worth exploring further in future work. The effects observed in the genetic influences on cognition of PIU subjects imply that the genetic heritable components of PIU may not lie within the genetic loci influencing COMT function and cognitive performance; or that the genetic component in PIU involves many genetic polymorphisms each conferring only a small effect.

scholarly journals Spatial working memory representations are resistant to an intervening stimulus and behavioral task

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 75e
Author(s):  
Grace E. Hallenbeck ◽  
Thomas C. Sprague ◽  
Masih Rahmati ◽  
Kartik K. Sreenivasan ◽  
Clayton E. Curtis
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Behavioral Task ◽  
Memory Representations

scholarly journals Neural evidence for categorical biases in working memory for location and orientation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gi-Yeul Bae
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Representation ◽  
Response Preparation ◽  
Behavioral Measures ◽  
Eeg Data ◽  
Categorical Structure ◽  
Memory Representations ◽  
Preparation Strategy

AbstractPrevious research demonstrated that visual working memory exhibits biases with respect to the categorical structure of the stimulus space. However, a majority of those studies used behavioral measures of working memory, and it is not clear whether the working memory representations per se are influenced by the categorical structure or whether the biases arise in decision or response processes during the report. Here, I applied a multivariate decoding technique to EEG data collected during working memory tasks to determine whether neural activity associated with the working memory representation is categorically biased prior to the report. I found that the decoding of spatial working memory was biased away from the nearest cardinal location, consistent with the biases observed in the behavioral responses. In a follow-up experiment which was designed to prevent the use of a response preparation strategy, I found that the decoding still exhibited categorical biases. Together, these results provide neural evidence that working memory representations themselves are categorically biased, imposing important constraints on the computational models of working memory representations.

scholarly journals Combined physical and cognitive exercises impact on the power of slow brainwaves of elderly with mild cognitive commitment (MCC)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Rodrigues Leite ◽  
Shayane Pereira Gonçalves ◽  
Anderson Pontes Morales ◽  
Bruna Carvalho Pelliciari ◽  
Mauricio Rocha Calomeni
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Emotional Processing ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Training ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Electrode Impedance ◽  
Theta Wave

Population aging is a global phenomenon, the passage from an aging state that is healthy to a process of loss of cognitive functions is mediated by the installation of a state of Mild Cognitive Commitment (MCC), which may or may not evolve into dementia. . In the early stages of dementia there is an increase in Theta activity and the more advanced stages there is an increase in Delta activity. The study verified the effect of the association of physical and cognitive stimuli on the power of Theta and Delta brain waves of elderly people with MCC. 18 elderly of both genders,aged over 60 years, diagnosed with CCL were divided into Control Group (CG, n=8); Experimental Group (GE, n=10). Brainwave power was determined via EEG with electrodes positioned according to the international 10/20 system. Asepsis of the checkpoints was performed with cotton and a 70º alcohol solution. For data collection, it was verified if the electrode impedance rate was below 20 (KΩ). Brain activity was monitored for 3 minutes to determine a baseline. The points of interest were points F7 which is related to visual and auditory working memory, selective and divided attention, F8 related to visual and spatial working memory, emotional processing and attention maintenance, and finally points P3 and P4 related to problem-solving, attention, and association, visual processing and non-verbal association. In addition to these, points A1 and A2 were used as a reference and another point as ground. The CG continued to attend memory training meetings. The GE went through training sessions that combined physical and cognitive exercises. Weekly 40-minute sessions were held for 7 weeks. Test T was used in all comparisons. It was found that the GC registered Theta increase in the parietal areas and Delta in both the parietal and frontal areas. The GE had a decrease in theta wave power in the parietal and frontal areas. None of the comparisons between groups proved to be statistically significant. It is concluded that the association of physical and cognitive stimuli applied in weekly sessions of 40 minutes for 7 weekswas not sufficient to produce statistically significant results. However, the observed results are qualitatively similar to those of other studies that indicate the efficiency of this type of training when used during longer intervention periods.

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