The Interrelations between Verbal Working Memory and Visual Selection of Emotional Faces

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1189-1200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Grecucci ◽  
David Soto ◽  
Raffaella Ida Rumiati ◽  
Glyn W. Humphreys ◽  
Pia Rotshtein
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Search Display ◽  
Visual Selection ◽  
Emotional Word ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Orbital Gyrus ◽  
High Level ◽  
Selection Of

Working memory (WM) and visual selection processes interact in a reciprocal fashion based on overlapping representations abstracted from the physical characteristics of stimuli. Here, we assessed the neural basis of this interaction using facial expressions that conveyed emotion information. Participants memorized an emotional word for a later recognition test and then searched for a face of a particular gender presented in a display with two faces that differed in gender and expression. The relation between the emotional word and the expressions of the target and distractor faces was varied. RTs for the memory test were faster when the target face matched the emotional word held in WM (on valid trials) relative to when the emotional word matched the expression of the distractor (on invalid trials). There was also enhanced activation on valid compared with invalid trials in the lateral orbital gyrus, superior frontal polar (BA 10), lateral occipital sulcus, and pulvinar. Re-presentation of the WM stimulus in the search display led to an earlier onset of activity in the superior and inferior frontal gyri and the anterior hippocampus irrespective of the search validity of the re-presented stimulus. The data indicate that the middle temporal and prefrontal cortices are sensitive to the reappearance of stimuli that are held in WM, whereas a fronto-thalamic occipital network is sensitive to the behavioral significance of the match between WM and targets for selection. We conclude that these networks are modulated by high-level matches between the contents of WM, behavioral goals, and current sensory input.

scholarly journals Cortical Mechanisms of Cognitive Control for Shifting Attention in Vision and Working Memory

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 2905-2919 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Tamber-Rosenau ◽  
Michael Esterman ◽  
Yu-Chin Chiu ◽  
Steven Yantis
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Future Goals ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Past Experiences ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Superior Frontal Sulcus

Organisms operate within both a perceptual domain of objects and events, and a mnemonic domain of past experiences and future goals. Each domain requires a deliberate selection of task-relevant information, through deployments of external (perceptual) and internal (mnemonic) attention, respectively. Little is known about the control of attention shifts in working memory, or whether voluntary control of attention in these two domains is subserved by a common or by distinct functional networks. We used human fMRI to examine the neural basis of cognitive control while participants shifted attention in vision and in working memory. We found that these acts of control recruit in common a subset of the dorsal fronto-parietal attentional control network, including the medial superior parietal lobule, intraparietal sulcus, and superior frontal sulcus/gyrus. Event-related multivoxel pattern classification reveals, however, that these regions exhibit distinct spatio-temporal patterns of neural activity during internal and external shifts of attention, respectively. These findings constrain theoretical accounts of selection in working memory and perception by showing that populations of neurons in dorsal fronto-parietal network regions exhibit selective tuning for acts of cognitive control in different cognitive domains.

scholarly journals Auditory cortex supports verbal working memory capacity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin M. Bidelman ◽  
Jane A. Brown ◽  
Pouya Bashivan
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Auditory Cortex ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Source Analysis ◽  
Neural Basis

AbstractWorking memory (WM) is a fundamental construct of human cognition. The neural basis of auditory WM is thought to reflect a distributed brain network consisting of canonical memory and central executive brain regions including frontal lobe, prefrontal areas, and hippocampus. Yet, the role of auditory (sensory) cortex in supporting active memory representations remains controversial. Here, we recorded neuroelectric activity via EEG as listeners actively performed an auditory version of the Sternberg memory task. Memory load was taxed by parametrically manipulating the number of auditory tokens (letter sounds) held in memory. Source analysis of scalp potentials showed that sustained neural activity maintained in auditory cortex (AC) prior to memory retrieval closely scaled with behavioral performance. Brain-behavior correlations revealed lateralized modulations in left (but not right) AC predicted individual differences in auditory WM capacity. Our findings confirm a prominent role of auditory cortex, traditionally viewed as a sensory-perceptual processor, in actively maintaining memory traces and dictating individual differences in behavioral WM limits.

Automatic Selection of Irrelevant Object Features Through Working Memory

2009 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Soto ◽  
Glyn W. Humphreys
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Search Display ◽  
Target Line ◽  
Search Performance ◽  
Distractor Object ◽  
Automatic Selection ◽  
Object Features ◽  
Selection Of

Recent research has shown that the contents of working memory (WM) can guide the early deployment of attention in visual search. Here, we assessed whether this guidance occurred for all attributes of items held in WM, or whether effects are based on just the attributes relevant for the memory task. We asked observers to hold in memory just the shape of a coloured object and to subsequently search for a target line amongst distractor lines, each embedded within a different object. On some trials, one of the objects in the search display could match the shape, the colour or both dimensions of the cue, but this object never contained the relevant target line. Relative to a neutral baseline, where there was no match between the memory and the search displays, search performance was impaired when a distractor object matched both the colour and the shape of the memory cue. The implications for the understanding of the interaction between WM and selection are discussed.

How curiosity and uncertainty shape children’s information seeking behaviors

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 549-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ko-Chiu Wu ◽  
Hung-Chun Chen
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Latent Variables ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Visualization Technology ◽  
High Level

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore whether children adopt a survey or a route approach when seeking information in a virtual world (VW), and whether their approach differs depending on whether they are experiencing positive or negative motivation. Different models were used based on disparate spatial recognition and conceptual abilities. Design/methodology/approach In total, 127 children operated a three-dimensional VW interface then they filled out a questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze weighted relationships among latent variables. Motivation (positive vs negative), information-seeking model (heuristic survey or detailed route) and the spatial markers, and complexity of patterns of the VW were examined. Findings The authors discovered that a highly motivated child tends to take a central route in the process of information seeking, whereas a child experiencing negative emotions and uncertainty prefers a survey approach using spatial markers to obtain information. In short, the type of motivation influences whether children adopt a heuristic or detailed perspective when searching for information on virtual interfaces. Originality/value It is believed that users combine perceptual activities (low-level cognition) with conceptual activities (high-level cognition) in order to save energy. Yet this study is the first to investigate the conditions under which children are prone to utilize spatial markers (based on visual working memory) or the sequencing of patterns (based on verbal working memory) to find information in a heuristic or detailed fashion. This study provides a fresh perspective regarding perceptual and conceptual integration for information visualization technology.

scholarly journals Rapid Parallel Attentional Selection Can Be Controlled by Shape and Alphanumerical Category

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 1672-1687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Jenkins ◽  
Anna Grubert ◽  
Martin Eimer
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Control ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Attentional Selection ◽  
Visual Features ◽  
Multiple Target ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Selection Tasks ◽  
Selection Of

Previous research has shown that when two color-defined target objects appear in rapid succession at different locations, attention is deployed independently and in parallel to both targets. This study investigated whether this rapid simultaneous attentional target selection mechanism can also be employed in tasks where targets are defined by a different visual feature (shape) or when alphanumerical category is the target selection attribute. Two displays that both contained a target and a nontarget object on opposite sides were presented successively, and the SOA between the two displays was 100, 50, 20, or 10 msec in different blocks. N2pc components were recorded to both targets as a temporal marker of their attentional selection. When observers searched for shape-defined targets (Experiment 1), N2pc components to the two targets were equal in size and overlapped in time when the SOA between the two displays was short, reflecting two parallel shape-guided target selection processes with their own independent time course. Essentially the same temporal pattern of N2pc components was observed when alphanumerical category was the target-defining attribute (Experiment 2), demonstrating that the rapid parallel attentional selection of multiple target objects is not restricted to situations where the deployment of attention can be guided by elementary visual features but that these processes can even be employed in category-based attentional selection tasks. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the cognitive and neural basis of top–down attentional control.

High-level language ability in healthy individuals and its relationship with verbal working memory

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 944-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malin Antonsson ◽  
Francesca Longoni ◽  
Christina Einald ◽  
Lina Hallberg ◽  
Gabriella Kurt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
High Level Language ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
High Level

scholarly journals Retrospective Selection in Visual and Tactile Working Memory Is Mediated by Shared Control Mechanisms

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 546-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Katus ◽  
Martin Eimer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Attentional Selection ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Tactile Stimuli ◽  
Synergy Effects ◽  
Tactile Working Memory ◽  
Attention To Task ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Attention Shifts

Selective attention regulates the activation of working memory (WM) representations. Retro-cues, presented after memory sample stimuli have been stored, modulate these activation states by triggering shifts of attention to task-relevant samples. Here, we investigated whether the control of such attention shifts is modality-specific or shared across sensory modalities. Participants memorized bilateral tactile and visual sample stimuli before an auditory retro-cue indicated which visual and tactile stimuli had to be retained. Critically, these cued samples were located on the same side or opposite sides, thus requiring spatially congruent or incongruent attention shifts in tactile and visual WM. To track the attentional selection of retro-cued samples, tactile and visual contralateral delay activities (tCDA and CDA components) were measured. Clear evidence for spatial synergy effects from attention shifts in visual WM on concurrent shifts in tactile WM were observed: Tactile WM performance was impaired, and tCDA components triggered by retro-cues were strongly attenuated on opposite-sides relative to same-side trials. These spatial congruency effects were eliminated when cued attention shifts in tactile WM occurred in the absence of simultaneous shifts within visual WM. Results show that, in contrast to other modality-specific aspects of WM control, concurrent attentional selection processes within tactile and visual WM are mediated by shared supramodal control processes.

Verbal Working Memory

2019 ◽  
pp. 826-850
Author(s):  
Bradley R. Buchsbaum
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Functional Adaptation ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Neuroscience Research ◽  
Ongoing Behavior ◽  
External Stimuli

Working memory refers to the temporary retention of information that has just arrived to the senses or has been retrieved from long-term memory. While internal representations of external stimuli have a natural tendency to decay over time or with interference, they can be kept “in mind” through the action of memory rehearsal strategies, and can be subjected to various operations that manipulate information in the service of ongoing behavior. A fundamental debate about the neural basis of working memory for linguistic information is whether it is supported by a dedicated brain system in its own right, or whether it emerges from the same neural circuitry that underpins basic online language processing. While the answer to this question remains a matter of debate, recent cognitive neuroscience research suggests that verbal working memory can be viewed as a functional adaptation of core neural substrates that enable the perception, comprehension, and production of speech.

Basic numerical processing, calculation, and working memory in children with dyscalculia and/or ADHD symptoms

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 365-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg-Tobias Kuhn ◽  
Elena Ise ◽  
Julia Raddatz ◽  
Christin Schwenk ◽  
Christian Dobel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Verbal Working Memory ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Cognitive Profiles ◽  
Adhd Symptoms ◽  
Memory Processing ◽  
Numerical Processing ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Neurocognitive Measures

Abstract. Objective: Deficits in basic numerical skills, calculation, and working memory have been found in children with developmental dyscalculia (DD) as well as children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This paper investigates cognitive profiles of children with DD and/or ADHD symptoms (AS) in a double dissociation design to obtain a better understanding of the comorbidity of DD and ADHD. Method: Children with DD-only (N = 33), AS-only (N = 16), comorbid DD+AS (N = 20), and typically developing controls (TD, N = 40) were assessed on measures of basic numerical processing, calculation, working memory, processing speed, and neurocognitive measures of attention. Results: Children with DD (DD, DD+AS) showed deficits in all basic numerical skills, calculation, working memory, and sustained attention. Children with AS (AS, DD+AS) displayed more selective difficulties in dot enumeration, subtraction, verbal working memory, and processing speed. Also, they generally performed more poorly in neurocognitive measures of attention, especially alertness. Children with DD+AS mostly showed an additive combination of the deficits associated with DD-only and A_Sonly, except for subtraction tasks, in which they were less impaired than expected. Conclusions: DD and AS appear to be related to largely distinct patterns of cognitive deficits, which are present in combination in children with DD+AS.


No Decay in Verbal Working Memory

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Oberauer ◽  
Stephan Lewandowsky
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Verbal Working Memory
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