scholarly journals The evolution of primate short-term memory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Many Primates
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Primate Cognition ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Response Task

Short-term memory is implicated in a range of cognitive abilities and is critical for understanding primate cognitive evolution. To investigate the effects of phylogeny, ecology and sociality on short-term memory ability, we tested 421 non-human primates across 41 species in a pre-registered, experimental delayed-response task. Our results confirm previous findings that longer delays decrease memory performance across species and taxa. Our analyses demonstrate a considerable contribution of phylogeny over ecological and social factors on the distribution of short-term memory performance in primates; closely related species had more similar short-term memory abilities. However, interdependencies between phylogeny and socioecology of a given species present an obstacle to disentangling the effects of each of these factors on the evolution of short-term memory capacity. The dataset corresponding to the study is freely accessible and constitutes an important resource for studying the evolution of primate cognition.

scholarly journals Establishing an infrastructure for collaboration in primate cognition research

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Bohn ◽  
Vanessa Schmitt ◽  
Alejandro Sanchez-Amaro ◽  
Stefanie Keupp ◽  
Lydia Hopper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Primate Cognition ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

Inferring the evolutionary history of cognitive abilities requires large and diverse samples. However, such samples are often beyond the reach of individual researchers or institutions, and studies are often limited to small numbers of species. Consequently, methodological and site-specific-differences across studies can limit comparisons between species. Here we introduce the ManyPrimates project, which addresses these challenges by providing a large-scale collaborative framework for comparative studies in primate cognition. To demonstrate the viability of the project we conducted a case study of short-term memory. In this initial study, we were able to include 176 individuals from 12 primate species housed at 11 sites across Africa, Asia, North America and Europe. All subjects were tested in a delayed-response task using consistent methodology across sites. Individuals could access food rewards by remembering the position of the hidden reward after a 0, 15, or 30-second delay. Overall, individuals performed better with shorter delays, as predicted by previous studies. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a strong phylogenetic signal for short-term memory. Although, with only 12 species, the validity of this analysis is limited, our initial results demonstrate the feasibility of a large, collaborative open-science project. We present the ManyPrimates project as an exciting opportunity to address open questions in primate cognition and behaviour with large, diverse datasets.

scholarly journals Visual short-term memory for 3D shapes reveals similar properties to simple 2D features

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Robitaille ◽  
Stephen Emrich
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Complex Objects ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Short Term Memory ◽  
2D And 3D ◽  
3D Shapes

In the past two decades, significant advances have been made to understand the psychophysical properties of visual short-term memory (VSTM). Most studies, however, make inferences based on memory for simple surface features of 2D shapes. Here, we examined the role of object complexity and dimensionality on the psychophysical properties of VSTM by comparing orientation memory for 2D lines and complex 3D objects in a delayed-response continuous report task, where memory load (Experiment 1) or axis of rotation (Experiment 2) was manipulated. In both experiments, our results demonstrate an overall cost of complexity that affected participants raw errors as well as their guess rate and response precision derived from mixture modelling. We also demonstrate that participants’ memory performance is correlated between stimulus types and that memory performance for both 2D and 3D shapes is better fit to the variable precision model of VSTM than to tested competing models. Interestingly, the ability to report complex objects is not consistent across axes of rotation. These results indicate that, despite the fact that VSTM shares similar properties for 2D and 3D shapes, VSTM is far from being a unitary process and is affected by stimulus properties such as complexity and dimensionality.

scholarly journals Discrete attractor dynamics underlying selective persistent activity in frontal cortex

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hidehiko K. Inagaki ◽  
Lorenzo Fontolan ◽  
Sandro Romani ◽  
Karel Svoboda
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Network Modeling ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Persistent Activity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Population Activity ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Attractor Dynamics ◽  
Response Task

AbstractShort-term memories link events separated in time, such as past sensation and future actions. Short-term memories are correlated with selective persistent activity, which can be maintained over seconds. In a delayed response task that requires short-term memory, neurons in mouse anterior lateral motor cortex (ALM) show persistent activity that instructs future actions. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying this persistent activity we combined intracellular and extracellular electrophysiology with optogenetic perturbations and network modeling. During the delay epoch, both membrane potential and population activity of ALM neurons funneled towards discrete endpoints related to specific movement directions. These endpoints were robust to transient shifts in ALM activity caused by optogenetic perturbations. Perturbations occasionally switched the population dynamics to the other endpoint, followed by incorrect actions. Our results are consistent with discrete attractor dynamics underlying short-term memory related to motor planning.

scholarly journals Crossmodal Semantic Congruence Interacts with Object Contextual Consistency in Complex Visual Scenes to Enhance Short-Term Memory Performance

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1206
Author(s):  
Erika Almadori ◽  
Serena Mastroberardino ◽  
Fabiano Botta ◽  
Riccardo Brunetti ◽  
Juan Lupiáñez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Spatial Position ◽  
Visual Scene ◽  
Facilitatory Effect ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Scenes ◽  
Semantic Congruence

Object sounds can enhance the attentional selection and perceptual processing of semantically-related visual stimuli. However, it is currently unknown whether crossmodal semantic congruence also affects the post-perceptual stages of information processing, such as short-term memory (STM), and whether this effect is modulated by the object consistency with the background visual scene. In two experiments, participants viewed everyday visual scenes for 500 ms while listening to an object sound, which could either be semantically related to the object that served as the STM target at retrieval or not. This defined crossmodal semantically cued vs. uncued targets. The target was either in- or out-of-context with respect to the background visual scene. After a maintenance period of 2000 ms, the target was presented in isolation against a neutral background, in either the same or different spatial position as in the original scene. The participants judged the same vs. different position of the object and then provided a confidence judgment concerning the certainty of their response. The results revealed greater accuracy when judging the spatial position of targets paired with a semantically congruent object sound at encoding. This crossmodal facilitatory effect was modulated by whether the target object was in- or out-of-context with respect to the background scene, with out-of-context targets reducing the facilitatory effect of object sounds. Overall, these findings suggest that the presence of the object sound at encoding facilitated the selection and processing of the semantically related visual stimuli, but this effect depends on the semantic configuration of the visual scene.

Neuromodulation of Reactive Sensorimotor Mappings as a Short-Term Memory Mechanism in Delayed Response Tasks

2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 185-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Ziemke ◽  
Mikael Thieme
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Neural Nets ◽  
Memory Representation ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Memory Mechanism ◽  
Control Networks ◽  
Behavioral Dynamics ◽  
Sensorimotor Mechanisms

This article addresses the relation between memory, representation, and adaptive behavior. More specifically, it demonstrates and discusses the use of synaptic plasticity, realized through neuromodulation of sensorimotor mappings, as a short-term memory mechanism in delayed response tasks. A number of experiments with extended sequential cascaded networks, that is, higher-order recurrent neural nets, controlling simple robotic agents in six different delayed response tasks are presented. The focus of the analysis is on how short-term memory is realized in such control networks through the dynamic modulation of sensorimotor mappings (rather than through feedback of neuronal activation, as in conventional recurrent nets), and how these internal dynamics interact with environmental/behavioral dynamics. In particular, it is demonstrated in the analysis of the last experimental scenario how this type of network can make very selective use of feedback/memory, while as far as possible limiting itself to the use of reactive sensorimotor mechanisms and occasional switches between them.

Spectral analysis of event-related EEG responses during short-term memory performance

1996 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Barry Sterman ◽  
David A. Kaiser ◽  
Bettina Veigel
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Analysis ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

Charting the Diversity of Strategic Processes in Visuospatial Short-Term Memory

2020 ◽  
pp. 174569162095069
Author(s):  
Corentin Gonthier
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Visuospatial Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Multiple Strategies ◽  
Strategic Processes ◽  
Strategic Behaviors ◽  
Spatial Tasks ◽  
The Difference

Despite the abundant literature on visuospatial short-term memory, researchers have devoted little attention to strategic processes: What procedures do subjects implement to memorize visuospatial material? Evidence for various strategies exists, but it is spread across a variety of fields. This integrative review of the literature brings together scattered evidence to provide an overview of strategic processes in visuospatial memory tasks. The diversity of strategies and their proposed operating mechanisms are reviewed and discussed. The evidence leads to proposing seven broad strategic processes used in visuospatial short-term memory, each with multiple variants. Strategies can vary across individuals, but the same subjects also appear to use multiple strategies depending on the perceptual features of to-be-remembered displays. These results point to a view of visuospatial strategies as a functional library of facilitatory processes on which subjects can draw to support visuospatial short-term memory performance. Implications are discussed for the difference between visual and spatial tasks, for the appropriate measurement of strategic behaviors, and for the interpretation of performance in visuospatial memory tasks.

scholarly journals Hippocampal 2-Arachidonoyl Glycerol Signaling Regulates Time-of-Day- and Stress-Dependent Effects on Rat Short-Term Memory

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
pp. 7316
Author(s):  
Alessia Santori ◽  
Maria Morena ◽  
Matthew N. Hill ◽  
Patrizia Campolongo
Keyword(s):  
Recognition Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
High Stress ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Stress Conditions ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Stress Dependent ◽  
Arachidonoyl Glycerol

Background: Cannabinoids induce biphasic effects on memory depending on stress levels. We previously demonstrated that different stress intensities, experienced soon after encoding, impaired rat short-term recognition memory in a time-of-day-dependent manner, and that boosting endocannabinoid anandamide (AEA) levels restored memory performance. Here, we examined if two different stress intensities and time-of-day alter hippocampal endocannabinoid tone, and whether these changes modulate short-term memory. Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to an object recognition task and exposed, at two different times of the day (i.e., morning or afternoon), to low or high stress conditions, immediately after encoding. Memory retention was assessed 1 hr later. Hippocampal AEA and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) content and the activity of their primary degrading enzymes, fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL), were measured soon after testing. Results: Consistent with our previous findings, low stress impaired 1-hr memory performance only in the morning, whereas exposure to high stress impaired memory independently of testing time. Stress exposure decreased AEA levels independently of memory alterations. Interestingly, exposure to high stress decreased 2-AG content and, accordingly, increased MAGL activity, selectively in the afternoon. Thus, to further evaluate 2-AG’s role in the modulation of short-term recognition memory, rats were given bilateral intra-hippocampal injections of the 2-AG hydrolysis inhibitor KML29 immediately after training, then subjected to low or high stress conditions and tested 1 hr later. Conclusions: KML29 abolished the time-of-day-dependent impairing effects of stress on short-term memory, ameliorating short-term recognition memory performance.

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