Sex Differences in Working Memory

In two separate studies, sex differences in modal-specific elements of working memory were investigated by utilizing words and pictures as stimuli. Groups of men and women performed a free-recall task of words or pictures in which 20 items were presented concurrently and the number of correct items recalled was measured. Following stimulus presentation, half of the participants were presented a verbal-based distraction task. On the verbal working-memory task, performance of men and women was not significantly different in the no-distraction condition. However, in the distraction condition, women's recall was significantly lower than their performance in the no-distraction condition and men's performance in the distraction condition. These findings are consistent with previous research and point to sex differences in cognitive ability putatively resulting from functional neuroanatomical dissimilarities. On the visual working-memory task, women showed significantly greater recall than men. These findings are inconsistent with previous research and underscore the need for further research.

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Sex Differences in Memory Estimates for Pictures and Words

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.2000.87.1.315 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 87 (1) ◽

pp. 315-322 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Marcos D. Ionescu

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Recall Test ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Memory Task ◽

Correct Recall ◽

Recall Task ◽

Men And Women ◽

Before And After ◽

Pictures And Words ◽

Performance Estimates

Memory performance estimates of men and women before and after a recall test were investigated. College students (17 men and 20 women), all juniors, participated in a memory task involving the recall of 80 stimuli (40 pictures and 40 words). Before and after the task they were asked to provide estimates of their pre- and postrecall performance. Although no sex differences were found for total correct recall, recall for pictures, and recall for words, or in the estimates of memory performance before the recall task, there were significant differences after the test: women underestimated their performance on the words and men underestimated their performance on the picture items.

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Developmental Analysis of Sex Differences in Categorical Organization

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1995.77.3.883 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 77 (3) ◽

pp. 883-890

Author(s):

Mary W. Mwangi

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Free Recall ◽

Memory Task ◽

Recall Task ◽

Single Trial ◽

Free Recall Task ◽

Developmental Trends ◽

Standard Instruction ◽

Developmental Analysis

Sex differences in recall and categorical organization of 180 children in Grades 2, 4, and 6 were investigated for a single-trial free-recall task. A memory task composed of 20 items from five conceptual categories was individually administered to each subject under standard instruction. Analysis suggested differential developmental trends for boys and girls. Significant sex differences in recall were obtained in Grade 6 only, with 36 boys showing better recall than 36 girls. An initial male developmental lag in clustering was evident in Grade 2, but no significant sex differences in Grade 4. By Grade 6 boys showed superior clustering. It is concluded that girls and boys show different developmental trends in categorical organization. The developmental trends in the pattern of sex differences in categorical organization obtained in this study are discussed in relation to patterns reported in previous studies.

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Brain Activity Elicited by Emotional Stimuli During a Verbal Working Memory Task: A Comparison of Healthy Adults and Patients with Chronic Schizophrenia

NeuroImage ◽

10.1016/s1053-8119(09)71772-0 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

pp. S166

Author(s):

MT Diaz ◽

G He ◽

S Gadde ◽

C Bellion ◽

A Belger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Memory Task ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Chronic Schizophrenia ◽

Healthy Adults ◽

Emotional Stimuli

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Modulation of medial temporal lobe activity in epilepsy patients with hippocampal sclerosis during verbal working memory

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s135561770909078x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 536-546 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

PABLO CAMPO ◽

FERNANDO MAESTÚ ◽

IRENE GARCÍA-MORALES ◽

ANTONIO GIL-NAGEL ◽

BRYAN STRANGE ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Temporal Lobe ◽

Medial Temporal Lobe ◽

Time Course ◽

Hippocampal Sclerosis ◽

Stimulus Presentation ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Compelling Evidence ◽

Electrophysiological Studies

AbstractIt has been traditionally assumed that medial temporal lobe (MTL) is not required for working memory (WM). However, animal lesion and electrophysiological studies and human neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have provided increasing evidences of a critical involvement of MTL in WM. Based on previous findings, the central aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of the MTL to verbal WM encoding. Here, we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to compare the patterns of MTL activation of 9 epilepsy patients suffering from left hippocampal sclerosis with those of 10 healthy matched controls while they performed a verbal WM task. MEG recordings allow detailed tracking of the time course of MTL activation. We observed impaired WM performance associated with changes in the dynamics of MTL activity in epilepsy patients. Specifically, whereas patients showed decreased activity in damaged MTL, activity in the contralateral MTL was enhanced, an effect that became significant in the 600- to 700-ms interval after stimulus presentation. These findings strongly support the crucial contribution of MTL to verbal WM encoding and provide compelling evidence for the proposal that MTL contributes to both episodic memory and WM. Whether this pattern is signaling reorganization or a normal use of a damaged structure is discussed. (JINS, 2009, 15, 536–546.)

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Verbal Working Memory Task

PsycTESTS Dataset ◽

10.1037/t23470-000 ◽

1996 ◽

Author(s):

Alexandra Gottardo ◽

Keith E. Stanovich ◽

Linda S. Siegel

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Memory Task ◽

Verbal Working Memory

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Comparison of diffusion-weighted fMRI and BOLD fMRI responses in a verbal working memory task

NeuroImage ◽

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.11.005 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 67 ◽

pp. 25-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Toshihiko Aso ◽

Shin-ichi Urayama ◽

Hidenao Fukuyama ◽

Denis Le Bihan

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Memory Task ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Bold Fmri ◽

Diffusion Weighted

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The functional neuroanatomy of schizophrenic subsyndromes

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291703007864 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 33 (6) ◽

pp. 1007-1018 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

G. D. HONEY ◽

T. SHARMA ◽

J. SUCKLING ◽

V. GIAMPIETRO ◽

W. SONI ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Factor Analysis ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Premotor Cortex ◽

Cognitive Activity ◽

Memory Task ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Functional Neuroanatomy ◽

Diverse Range ◽

Negatively Associated

Background. There is considerable variability between patients in their expression of the diverse range of symptoms encompassed by the syndrome of schizophrenia, which may modulate functional activation to cognitive processing.Method. Here we investigate associations between schizophrenic subsyndrome scores, identified by factor analysis, and experimentally controlled brain activation. Five factors were defined by rotated principal components analysis of PANSS rating scale measurements in 100 patients with schizophrenia. A subsample of 30 patients and a group of 27 comparison subjects were studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during the performance of two periodically designed cognitive activation experiments: verbal working memory and psychomotor sequencing.Results. Factor analysis replicated the five dimensions consistently reported. Within the patient group, power of activation by working memory was negatively associated with global symptom severity in left lingual and temporo-parietal cortices; negatively associated with positive subsyndrome scores in left inferior frontal and superior temporal cortices and basal ganglia; and positively associated with negative subsyndrome scores in lateral and medial premotor cortex. No relationship was observed between subsyndrome scores and functional activation during the motor task. Between-group comparisons demonstrated reduced power of response to the working memory task by patients in bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal and left pre- and post-central cortices.Conclusions. In this study we observed task-specific modulation of functional response associated with symptom expression in schizophrenia. Our findings are compatible with previous empirical findings and theoretical conceptualization of human brain function, in terms of capacity constraints on activation in the face of competing demands from pathological and task-related cognitive activity.

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Social Skills Intervention Participation and Associated Improvements in Executive Function Performance

Autism Research and Treatment ◽

10.1155/2017/5843851 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 ◽

pp. 1-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Shawn E. Christ ◽

Janine P. Stichter ◽

Karen V. O’Connor ◽

Kimberly Bodner ◽

Amanda J. Moffitt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Executive Function ◽

Social Competence ◽

Spatial Working Memory ◽

Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽

Memory Task ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Mixing Costs ◽

Adolescents With Asd

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social communication. It has been postulated that such difficulties are related to disruptions in underlying cognitive processes such as executive function. The present study examined potential changes in executive function performance associated with participation in the Social Competence Intervention (SCI) program, a short-term intervention designed to improve social competence in adolescents with ASD. Laboratory behavioral performance measures were used to separately evaluate potential intervention-related changes in individual executive function component processes (i.e., working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility) in a sample of 22 adolescents with ASD both before and after intervention. For comparison purposes, a demographically matched sample of 14 individuals without ASD was assessed at identical time intervals. Intervention-related improvements were observed on the working memory task, with gains evident in spatial working memory and, to a slightly lesser degree, verbal working memory. Significant improvements were also found for a working memory-related aspect of the task switching test (i.e., mixing costs). Taken together, these findings provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that participation in the SCI program is accompanied by changes in underlying neurocognitive processes such as working memory.

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