Faculty Opinions recommendation of Conversion of working memory to motor sequence in the monkey premotor cortex.

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Kalaska
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Motor Sequence

Contribution of the Premotor Cortex to Consolidation of Motor Sequence Learning in Humans During Sleep

2010 ◽  
Vol 104 (5) ◽  
pp. 2603-2614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Nitsche ◽  
Michaela Jakoubkova ◽  
Nivethida Thirugnanasambandam ◽  
Leonie Schmalfuss ◽  
Sandra Hullemann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Rem Sleep ◽  
Sequence Learning ◽  
Memory Consolidation ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Reaction Time Task ◽  
Motor Memory ◽  
Motor Sequence

Motor learning and memory consolidation require the contribution of different cortices. For motor sequence learning, the primary motor cortex is involved primarily in its acquisition. Premotor areas might be important for consolidation. In accordance, modulation of cortical excitability via transcranial DC stimulation (tDCS) during learning affects performance when applied to the primary motor cortex, but not premotor cortex. We aimed to explore whether premotor tDCS influences task performance during motor memory consolidation. The impact of excitability-enhancing, -diminishing, or placebo premotor tDCS during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep on recall in the serial reaction time task (SRTT) was explored in healthy humans. The motor task was learned in the evening. Recall was performed immediately after tDCS or the following morning. In two separate control experiments, excitability-enhancing premotor tDCS was performed 4 h after task learning during daytime or immediately before conduction of a simple reaction time task. Excitability-enhancing tDCS performed during REM sleep increased recall of the learned movement sequences, when tested immediately after stimulation. REM density was enhanced by excitability-increasing tDCS and reduced by inhibitory tDCS, but did not correlate with task performance. In the control experiments, tDCS did not improve performance. We conclude that the premotor cortex is involved in motor memory consolidation during REM sleep.

scholarly journals Age-Related Declines in Visuospatial Working Memory Correlate With Deficits in Explicit Motor Sequence Learning

2009 ◽  
Vol 102 (5) ◽  
pp. 2744-2754 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bo ◽  
V. Borza ◽  
R. D. Seidler
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Sequence Learning ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Motor Sequence Learning ◽  
Motor Sequence ◽  
Age Related

Numerous studies have shown that older adults exhibit deficits in motor sequence learning, but the mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. Our recent work has shown that visuospatial working-memory capacity predicts the rate of motor sequence learning and the length of motor chunks formed during explicit sequence learning in young adults. In the current study, we evaluate whether age-related deficits in working memory explain the reduced rate of motor sequence learning in older adults. We found that older adults exhibited a correlation between visuospatial working-memory capacity and motor sequence chunk length, as we observed previously in young adults. In addition, older adults exhibited an overall reduction in both working-memory capacity and motor chunk length compared with that of young adults. However, individual variations in visuospatial working-memory capacity did not correlate with the rate of learning in older adults. These results indicate that working memory declines with age at least partially explain age-related differences in explicit motor sequence learning.

scholarly journals Visuospatial Working Memory Capacity Predicts the Organization of Acquired Explicit Motor Sequences

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (6) ◽  
pp. 3116-3125 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bo ◽  
R. D. Seidler
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Sequence Learning ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Temporal Organization ◽  
Visuospatial Working Memory ◽  
Temporal Control ◽  
Motor Sequence Learning ◽  
Motor Sequence ◽  
Timing Task

Studies have suggested that cognitive processes such as working memory and temporal control contribute to motor sequence learning. These processes engage overlapping brain regions with sequence learning, but concrete evidence has been lacking. In this study, we determined whether limits in visuospatial working memory capacity and temporal control abilities affect the temporal organization of explicitly acquired motor sequences. Participants performed an explicit sequence learning task, a visuospatial working memory task, and a continuous tapping timing task. We found that visuospatial working memory capacity, but not the CV from the timing task, correlated with the rate of motor sequence learning and the chunking pattern observed in the learned sequence. These results show that individual differences in short-term visuospatial working memory capacity, but not temporal control, predict the temporal structure of explicitly acquired motor sequences.

The functional neuroanatomy of schizophrenic subsyndromes

2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 1007-1018 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals An approach to separating the levels of hierarchical structure building in language and mathematics

2012 ◽  
Vol 367 (1598) ◽  
pp. 2033-2045 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michiru Makuuchi ◽  
Jörg Bahlmann ◽  
Angela D. Friederici
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Hierarchical Structure ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Control Task ◽  
Structure Building ◽  
Language And Mathematics ◽  
Memory Control ◽  
And Mathematics

We aimed to dissociate two levels of hierarchical structure building in language and mathematics, namely ‘first-level’ (the build-up of hierarchical structure with externally given elements) and ‘second-level’ (the build-up of hierarchical structure with internally represented elements produced by first-level processes). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated these processes in three domains: sentence comprehension, arithmetic calculation (using Reverse Polish notation, which gives two operands followed by an operator) and a working memory control task. All tasks required the build-up of hierarchical structures at the first- and second-level, resulting in a similar computational hierarchy across language and mathematics, as well as in a working memory control task. Using a novel method that estimates the difference in the integration cost for conditions of different trial durations, we found an anterior-to-posterior functional organization in the prefrontal cortex, according to the level of hierarchy. Common to all domains, the ventral premotor cortex (PMv) supports first-level hierarchy building, while the dorsal pars opercularis (POd) subserves second-level hierarchy building, with lower activation for language compared with the other two tasks. These results suggest that the POd and the PMv support domain-general mechanisms for hierarchical structure building, with the POd being uniquely efficient for language.

scholarly journals Additive and interaction effects of working memory and motor sequence training on brain functional connectivity

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Priska Zuber ◽  
Laura Gaetano ◽  
Alessandra Griffa ◽  
Manuel Huerbin ◽  
Ludovico Pedullà ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Resting State Fmri ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Precentral Gyrus ◽  
Motor Sequence ◽  
Brain Functional Connectivity

AbstractAlthough shared behavioral and neural mechanisms between working memory (WM) and motor sequence learning (MSL) have been suggested, the additive and interactive effects of training have not been studied. This study aimed at investigating changes in brain functional connectivity (FC) induced by sequential (WM + MSL and MSL + WM) and combined (WM × MSL) training programs. 54 healthy subjects (27 women; mean age: 30.2 ± 8.6 years) allocated to three training groups underwent twenty-four 40-min training sessions over 6 weeks and four cognitive assessments including functional MRI. A double-baseline approach was applied to account for practice effects. Test performances were compared using linear mixed-effects models and t-tests. Resting state fMRI data were analysed using FSL. Processing speed, verbal WM and manual dexterity increased following training in all groups. MSL + WM training led to additive effects in processing speed and verbal WM. Increased FC was found after training in a network including the right angular gyrus, left superior temporal sulcus, right superior parietal gyrus, bilateral middle temporal gyri and left precentral gyrus. No difference in FC was found between double baselines. Results indicate distinct patterns of resting state FC modulation related to sequential and combined WM and MSL training suggesting a relevance of the order of training performance. These observations could provide new insight for the planning of effective training/rehabilitation.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document