scholarly journals Proactive interference and the development of working memory

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mollie Hamilton ◽  
Ashley Ross ◽  
Erik Blaser ◽  
Zsuzsa Kaldy
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Proactive Interference ◽  
Early Development ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Posterior Parietal

Working Memory (WM), the ability to maintain information in service to a task, is characterized by its limited capacity. Several influential models attribute this limitation in a large extent to proactive interference (Anderson & Neely, 1996; Bunting, 2006; Kane & Engle, 2000), the phenomenon that previously encoded, now-irrelevant information competes with relevant information (Keppel & Underwood, 1963). Here, we look back at the adult PI literature, spanning over sixty years, as well as recent results linking the ability to cope with PI to WM capacity (Endress & Potter, 2014; Kane & Engle, 2000). In early development, WM capacity is even more limited (Kaldy & Leslie, 2005; Simmering, 2012), yet an accounting for the role of PI has been lacking. Our Focus Article aims to address this through an integrative account: since PI resolution is mediated by networks involving the frontal cortex (particularly, the left inferior frontal gyrus) and the posterior parietal cortex (Badre & Wagner, 2005; Jonides & Nee, 2006), and since children have protracted development and less recruitment (Crone et al., 2006) of these areas, the increase in the ability to cope with PI (Kail, 2002; De Visscher & Noel, 2014) is a major factor underlying the increase in WM capacity in early development. Given this, we suggest that future research should focus on mechanistic studies of PI resolution in children. Finally, we note a crucial methodological implication: typical WM paradigms repeat stimuli from trial-to-trial, facilitating, inadvertently, PI and reducing performance; we may be fundamentally underestimating children’s WM capacity.

scholarly journals Working Memory Retrieval: Contributions of the Left Prefrontal Cortex, the Left Posterior Parietal Cortex, and the Hippocampus

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 581-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilke Öztekin ◽  
Brian McElree ◽  
Bernhard P. Staresina ◽  
Lila Davachi
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Focal Attention ◽  
Left Posterior ◽  
Posterior Parietal

Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to identify regions involved in working memory (WM) retrieval. Neural activation was examined in two WM tasks: an item recognition task, which can be mediated by a direct-access retrieval process, and a judgment of recency task that requires a serial search. Dissociations were found in the activation patterns in the hippocampus and in the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) when the probe contained the most recently studied serial position (where a test probe can be matched to the contents of focal attention) compared to when it contained all other positions (where retrieval is required). The data implicate the hippocampus and the LIFG in retrieval from WM, complementing their established role in long-term memory. Results further suggest that the left posterior parietal cortex (LPPC) supports serial retrieval processes that are often required to recover temporal order information. Together, these data suggest that the LPPC, the LIFG, and the hippocampus collectively support WM retrieval. Critically, the reported findings support accounts that posit a distinction between representations maintained in and outside of focal attention, but are at odds with traditional dual-store models that assume distinct mechanisms for short- and long-term memory representations.

Neglecting the posterior parietal cortex: The role of higher-order perceptual memories for working-memory retention

2003 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 749-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Mecklinger ◽  
Bertram Opitz
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Fmri Data ◽  
Memory Retention ◽  
Memory Representations ◽  
Posterior Parietal ◽  
Dynamic Link

The view that posterior brain systems engaged in lower-order perceptual functions are activated during sustained retention is challenged by fMRI data, which show consistent retention-related activation of higher-order memory representations for a variety of working-memory materials. Sustained retention entails the dynamic link of these higher-order memories with schemata for goal-oriented action housed by the frontal lobes.

scholarly journals Neural Underpinnings of Proactive Interference in Working Memory: Evidence From Patients With Unilateral Lesions

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie K. Ries ◽  
Krista L. Schendel ◽  
Timothy J. Herron ◽  
Nina F. Dronkers ◽  
Juliana V. Baldo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Proactive Interference ◽  
Interference Effect ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Degree Of Damage ◽  
Past Experiences ◽  
The Impact

Proactive interference in working memory refers to the fact that memory of past experiences can interfere with the ability to hold new information in working memory. The left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) has been proposed to play an important role in resolving proactive interference in working memory. However, the role of white matter pathways and other cortical regions has been less investigated. Here we investigated proactive interference in working memory using the Recent Probes Test (RPT) in 15 stroke patients with unilateral chronic lesions in left (n = 7) or right (n = 2) prefrontal cortex (PFC), or left temporal cortex (n = 6). We examined the impact of lesions in both gray and white matter regions on the size of the proactive interference effect. We found that patients with left PFC lesions performed worse overall, but the proactive interference effect in this patient group was comparable to that of patients with right PFC lesions, temporal lobe lesions, and controls. Interestingly, the size of the interference effect was significantly correlated with the degree of damage in the extreme/external capsule and marginally correlated with the degree of damage in the inferior frontal occipital fasciculus (IFOF). These findings suggests that ventral white matter pathways connecting the LIFG to left posterior regions play a role in resolving proactive interference in working memory. This effect was particularly evident in one patient with a very large interference effect (>3 SDs above controls) who had mostly spared LIFG, but virtually absent ventral white matter pathways (i.e., passing through the extreme/external capsules and IFOF). This case study further supports the idea that the role of the LIFG in resolving interference in working memory is dependent on connectivity with posterior regions via ventral white matter pathways.

scholarly journals Cerebral cortex activation during the Sternberg verbal working memory task

2020 ◽  
pp. 40-48
Author(s):  
I.S. Bakulin ◽  
A.H. Zabirova ◽  
P.N. Kopnin ◽  
D.O. Sinitsyn ◽  
A.G. Poydasheva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Posterior Parietal ◽  
Sternberg Task

Despite intensive study, the data regarding functional role of specific brain regions in the working memory processes still remain controversial. The study was aimed to determine the activation of cerebral cortex regions at different stages of the working memory task (information encoding, maintenance and retrieval). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with the modified Sternberg task was applied to 19 healthy volunteers. The objective of the task was to memorize and retain in memory the sequence of 7 letters with the subsequent comparison of one letter with the sequence. Activation was analyzed during three periods of the task compared to the rest period, as well as temporal dynamics of changes in BOLD signal intensity in three regions: left dorsolateral prefrontal, left posterior parietal and left occipital cortex. According to the results, significant activation of the regions in prefrontal and posterior parietal cortex was observed during all periods of the task (p < 0.05), but there were changes in its localization and lateralization. The activation pattern during the maintenance period corresponded to the fronto-parietal control network components. According to the analysis of temporal dynamics of changes in BOLD signal intensity, the most prominent activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and parietal cortex was observed in the end of the encoding period, during the maintenance period and in the beginning of the retrieval period, which confirmed the role of those areas in the working memory processes. The maximum of occipital cortex activation was observed during encoding period. The study confirmed the functional role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and posterior parietal cortex in the working memory mechanisms during all stages of the Sternberg task.

Syntactic Dependencies as Memorized Sequences in the Brain

2005 ◽  
Vol 50 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 241-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yosef Grodzinsky
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Functional Neuroanatomy ◽  
Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Broca’S Region ◽  
Syntactic Representation ◽  
Syntactic Approach ◽  
Syntactic Relations ◽  
Syntactic Dependencies ◽  
The Brain

AbstractThe prospects of a cognitive neuroscience of syntax are considered with respect to functional neuroanatomy of two seemingly independent systems: Working Memory and syntactic representation and processing. It is proposed that these two systems are more closely related than previously supposed. In particular, it is claimed that a sentence with anaphoric dependencies involves several Working Memories, each entrusted with a different linguistic function. Components of Working Memory reside in the Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus, which is associated with Broca’s region. When lesioned, this area manifests comprehension disruptions in the ability to analyze intra-sentential dependencies, suggesting that Working Memory spans over syntactic computations. The unification of considerations regarding Working Memory with a purely syntactic approach to Broca’s regions leads to the conclusion that mechanisms that compute transformations—and no other syntactic relations—reside in this area.

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