scholarly journals The Dynamic-Processing Model of Working Memory

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 378-387
Author(s):  
Nathan S. Rose
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Dynamic Activity ◽  
Mind And Brain ◽  
Latent Representations ◽  
Dynamic Processing ◽  
Conventional Models ◽  
The Mind

Recent shifts in the understanding of how the mind and brain retain information in working memory (WM) call for revision to traditional theories. Evidence of dynamic, “activity-silent,” short-term retention processes diverges from conventional models positing that information is always retained in WM by sustained neural activity in buffers. Such evidence comes from machine-learning methods that can decode patterns of brain activity and the simultaneous administration of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to causally manipulate brain activity in specific areas and time points. TMS can “ping” brain areas to both reactivate latent representations retained in WM and affect memory performance. On the basis of these findings, I argue for a supplement to sustained retention mechanisms. Brain-decoding methods also reveal that dynamic levels of representational codes are retained in WM, and these vary according to task context, from perceptual (sensory) codes in posterior areas to abstract, recoded representations distributed across frontoparietal regions. A dynamic-processing model of WM is advanced to account for the overall pattern of results.

scholarly journals The Dynamic Processing Model of Working Memory

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Rose
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Dynamic Activity ◽  
Latent Representations ◽  
Dynamic Processing ◽  
Conventional Models ◽  
The Mind

Recent shifts in the understanding of how the mind and brain retain information in working memory (WM) call for revision to traditional theories. Evidence for the existence of dynamic, “activity-silent” short-term retention processes in the brain diverge from conventional models that have argued that information is always retained in WM by sustained neural activity in buffers. Such evidence comes from the use of machine-learning analytic approaches to decode patterns of brain activity and the simultaneous administration of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to causally manipulate brain activity in specific areas and time-points. TMS has been used to 'ping' brain areas and reactivate latent representations retained in WM and affect memory performance. These findings argue for a supplement to the sustained retention mechanisms associated with attending to information in WM. Moreover, brain decoding methods reveal that dynamic levels of representational codes are retained in WM, which vary according to task context, from perceptual/sensory codes in posterior areas to more abstract, recoded representations distributed across frontal-parietal regions. A Dynamic Processing Model of WM is advanced to account for the overall pattern of results.Keywords: activity-silent, short-term memory, working memory, sensory-motor recruitment

scholarly journals Resting‐State EEG Microstates Parallel Age‐Related Differences in Allocentric Spatial Working Memory Performance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeline Jabès ◽  
Giuliana Klencklen ◽  
Paolo Ruggeri ◽  
Christoph M. Michel ◽  
Pamela Banta Lavenex ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Age Related

AbstractAlterations of resting-state EEG microstates have been associated with various neurological disorders and behavioral states. Interestingly, age-related differences in EEG microstate organization have also been reported, and it has been suggested that resting-state EEG activity may predict cognitive capacities in healthy individuals across the lifespan. In this exploratory study, we performed a microstate analysis of resting-state brain activity and tested allocentric spatial working memory performance in healthy adult individuals: twenty 25–30-year-olds and twenty-five 64–75-year-olds. We found a lower spatial working memory performance in older adults, as well as age-related differences in the five EEG microstate maps A, B, C, C′ and D, but especially in microstate maps C and C′. These two maps have been linked to neuronal activity in the frontal and parietal brain regions which are associated with working memory and attention, cognitive functions that have been shown to be sensitive to aging. Older adults exhibited lower global explained variance and occurrence of maps C and C′. Moreover, although there was a higher probability to transition from any map towards maps C, C′ and D in young and older adults, this probability was lower in older adults. Finally, although age-related differences in resting-state EEG microstates paralleled differences in allocentric spatial working memory performance, we found no evidence that any individual or combination of resting-state EEG microstate parameter(s) could reliably predict individual spatial working memory performance. Whether the temporal dynamics of EEG microstates may be used to assess healthy cognitive aging from resting-state brain activity requires further investigation.

scholarly journals Brain hemodynamic response in Examiner–Examinee dyads during spatial short-term memory task: an fNIRS study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Panico ◽  
Stefania De Marco ◽  
Laura Sagliano ◽  
Francesca D’Olimpio ◽  
Dario Grossi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
The Real

AbstractThe Corsi Block-Tapping test (CBT) is a measure of spatial working memory (WM) in clinical practice, requiring an examinee to reproduce sequences of cubes tapped by an examiner. CBT implies complementary behaviors in the examiners and the examinees, as they have to attend a precise turn taking. Previous studies demonstrated that the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) is activated during CBT, but scarce evidence is available on the neural correlates of CBT in the real setting. We assessed PFC activity in dyads of examiner–examinee participants while completing the real version of CBT, during conditions of increasing and exceeding workload. This procedure allowed to investigate whether brain activity in the dyads is coordinated. Results in the examinees showed that PFC activity was higher when the workload approached or reached participants’ spatial WM span, and lower during workload conditions that were largely below or above their span. Interestingly, findings in the examiners paralleled the ones in the examinees, as examiners’ brain activity increased and decreased in a similar way as the examinees’ one. In the examiners, higher left-hemisphere activity was observed suggesting the likely activation of non-spatial WM processes. Data support a bell-shaped relationship between cognitive load and brain activity, and provide original insights on the cognitive processes activated in the examiner during CBT.

scholarly journals Urinary tetrahydrocannabinol is associated with poorer working memory performance and alterations in associated brain activity

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 613-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max M. Owens ◽  
Shannon McNally ◽  
Tashia Petker ◽  
Michael T. Amlung ◽  
Iris M. Balodis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Performance

scholarly journals Age-Related Differences in Resting-State EEG and Allocentric Spatial Working Memory Performance

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeline Jabès ◽  
Giuliana Klencklen ◽  
Paolo Ruggeri ◽  
Jean-Philippe Antonietti ◽  
Pamela Banta Lavenex ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Eeg Activity ◽  
Recording Conditions

During normal aging resting-state brain activity changes and working memory performance declines as compared to young adulthood. Interestingly, previous studies reported that different electroencephalographic (EEG) measures of resting-state brain activity may correlate with working memory performance at different ages. Here, we recorded resting-state EEG activity and tested allocentric spatial working memory in healthy young (20–30 years) and older (65–75 years) adults. We adapted standard EEG methods to record brain activity in mobile participants in a non-shielded environment, in both eyes closed and eyes open conditions. Our study revealed some age-group differences in resting-state brain activity that were consistent with previous results obtained in different recording conditions. We confirmed that age-group differences in resting-state EEG activity depend on the recording conditions and the specific parameters considered. Nevertheless, lower theta-band and alpha-band frequencies and absolute powers, and higher beta-band and gamma-band relative powers were overall observed in healthy older adults, as compared to healthy young adults. In addition, using principal component and regression analyses, we found that the first extracted EEG component, which represented mainly theta, alpha and beta powers, correlated with spatial working memory performance in older adults, but not in young adults. These findings are consistent with the theory that the neurobiological bases of working memory performance may differ between young and older adults. However, individual measures of resting-state EEG activity could not be used as reliable biomarkers to predict individual allocentric spatial working memory performance in young or older adults.

Working with working memory and language

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sharwood Smith
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Theoretical Concept ◽  
Storage Facility ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Memory Research ◽  
Second Language Development ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Mind And Brain ◽  
The Mind

Working memory is generally understood to refer to a limited storage facility for information temporarily needed during online processing. It figures with increasing frequency both in studies on second language development and more widely in research on bilingual and multilingual acquisition and attrition studies. The importance of the concept to our understanding justifies the appearance of this special issue, in which both general and specifically second language (L2) oriented topics related to working memory are discussed. Unsurprisingly, working memory is a theoretical concept that remains subject to controversy since we still have much to learn about how the mind and brain work. Many researchers do not do research that focuses on the nature of memory itself but at the same time still rely on the concept and the various types of related measures that have been developed in psychology for their own investigations: for these researchers, it is still important to keep abreast of developments in memory research both within and beyond their own area.

scholarly journals The Mind and Brain of Short-Term Memory

2008 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Jonides ◽  
Richard L. Lewis ◽  
Derek Evan Nee ◽  
Cindy A. Lustig ◽  
Marc G. Berman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Mind And Brain ◽  
The Mind
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