scholarly journals Persistent Spatial Information in the FEF during Object-based Short-term Memory Does Not Contribute to Task Performance

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1292-1299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelsey L. Clark ◽  
Behrad Noudoost ◽  
Tirin Moore
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Persistent Activity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Object Based ◽  
Saccade Task

We previously reported the existence of a persistent spatial signal in the FEF during object-based STM. This persistent activity reflected the location at which the sample appeared, irrespective of the location of upcoming targets. We hypothesized that such a spatial signal could be used to maintain or enhance object-selective memory activity elsewhere in cortex, analogous to the role of a spatial signal during attention. Here, we inactivated a portion of the FEF with GABAa agonist muscimol to test whether the observed activity contributes to object memory performance. We found that, although RTs were slowed for saccades into the inactivated portion of retinotopic space, performance for samples appearing in that region was unimpaired. This contrasts with the devastating effects of the same FEF inactivation on purely spatial working memory, as assessed with the memory-guided saccade task. Thus, in a task in which a significant fraction of FEF neurons displayed persistent, sample location-based activity, disrupting this activity had no impact on task performance.

scholarly journals The role of habituation and attentional orienting in the disruption of short-term memory performance

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 839-850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Philipp Röer ◽  
Raoul Bell ◽  
Sandra Dentale ◽  
Axel Buchner
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Attentional Orienting ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

Recognizing the Role of Consistency in a Delayed Memory Task

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 1155-1159
Author(s):  
Gayle Schwark ◽  
Stephen Rice ◽  
Lisa Busche ◽  
David Trafimow
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Performance Theory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Memory Decay ◽  
Potential Performance Theory

Past research on short-term memory decay has found that participants are more efficient at remembering information when the delay between stimuli presentation and recall is short as opposed to long. In the current study we used Potential Performance Theory (PPT) to identify the role that both random and systematic factors play in observed memory performance over a delay. We presented participants with a string of letters followed by either a 2-second or 16-second delay. Following the delay, participants were presented with a two alternative forced choice (2AFC) display where they were asked to determine whether the matching string was in the first or second display. The findings indicate that inconsistency is primarily responsible for the decrements in observed performance that can be seen over a time delay. Theoretical and practical applications are discussed.

Verbal Short-Term Memory in Down Syndrome

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 531-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Jarrold ◽  
Alan D. Baddeley ◽  
Caroline E. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Recall Procedure ◽  
Children And Young Adults ◽  
Motor Difficulties

The current study explored three possible explanations of poor verbal short-term memory performance among individuals with Down syndrome in an attempt to determine whether the condition is associated with a fundamental verbal shortterm memory deficit. The short-term memory performance of a group of 19 children and young adults with Down syndrome was contrasted with that of two control groups matched for level of receptive vocabulary. The specificity of a deficit was assessed by comparing memory for verbal and visuo-spatial information. The effect of auditory problems on performance was examined by contrasting memory for auditorily presented material with that for material presented both auditorily and visually. The influence of speech-motor difficulties was investigated by employing both a traditional recall procedure and a serial recognition procedure that reduced spoken response demands. Results confirmed that individuals with Down syndrome do show impaired verbal short-term memory performance for their level of receptive vocabulary. The findings also indicated that this deficit is specific to memory for verbal information and is not primarily caused by auditory or speech-production difficulties.

scholarly journals Fundamental bound on the persistence and capacity of short-term memory stored as graded persistent activity

eLife ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Onur Ozan Koyluoglu ◽  
Yoni Pertzov ◽  
Sanjay Manohar ◽  
Masud Husain ◽  
Ila R Fiete
Keyword(s):  
Human Performance ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Persistent Activity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Noisy Channels ◽  
Storage Duration ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Activity Networks ◽  
The Brain

It is widely believed that persistent neural activity underlies short-term memory. Yet, as we show, the degradation of information stored directly in such networks behaves differently from human short-term memory performance. We build a more general framework where memory is viewed as a problem of passing information through noisy channels whose degradation characteristics resemble those of persistent activity networks. If the brain first encoded the information appropriately before passing the information into such networks, the information can be stored substantially more faithfully. Within this framework, we derive a fundamental lower-bound on recall precision, which declines with storage duration and number of stored items. We show that human performance, though inconsistent with models involving direct (uncoded) storage in persistent activity networks, can be well-fit by the theoretical bound. This finding is consistent with the view that if the brain stores information in patterns of persistent activity, it might use codes that minimize the effects of noise, motivating the search for such codes in the brain.

Role of affect in short-term memory for paired associates.

1968 ◽  
Vol 78 (3, Pt.1) ◽  
pp. 494-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calvin F. Nodine ◽  
James H. Korn
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Paired Associates

The capacity of short term memory from an evolutionary perspective

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majid Manoochehri
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Cognitive System ◽  
Evolutionary Approach ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

Memory span in humans has been intensely studied for more than a century. In spite of the critical role of memory span in our cognitive system, which intensifies the importance of fundamental determinants of its evolution, few studies have investigated it by taking an evolutionary approach. Overall, we know hardly anything about the evolution of memory components. In the present study, I briefly review the experimental studies of memory span in humans and non-human animals and shortly discuss some of the relevant evolutionary hypotheses.

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