scholarly journals Testing a dynamic-field account of interactions between spatial attention and spatial working memory

2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 1043-1063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Johnson ◽  
John P. Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Dynamic Field

scholarly journals Visual spatial attention and spatial working memory do not draw on shared capacity-limited core processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 799-818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina J Howard ◽  
Rebekah Pole ◽  
Paulina Montgomery ◽  
Amanda Woodward ◽  
Duncan Guest ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Spatial Task ◽  
Monitoring Task ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Location Binding ◽  
Load Types ◽  
Position Monitoring

The extent to which similar capacity limits in visual attention and visual working memory indicate a common shared underlying mechanism is currently still debated. In the spatial domain, the multiple object tracking (MOT) task has been used to assess the relationship between spatial attention and spatial working memory though existing results have been inconclusive. In three dual task experiments, we examined the extent of interference between attention to spatial positions and memory for spatial positions. When the position monitoring task required keeping track of target identities through colour-location binding, we found a moderate detrimental effect of position monitoring on spatial working memory and an ambiguous interaction effect. However, when this task requirement was removed, load increases in neither task were detrimental to the other. The only very moderate interference effect that remained resided in an interaction between load types but was not consistent with shared capacity between tasks—rather it was consistent with content-related crosstalk between spatial representations. Contrary to propositions that spatial attention and spatial working memory may draw on a common shared set of core processes, these findings indicate that for a purely spatial task, perceptual attention and working memory appear to recruit separate core capacity-limited processes.

Interference with Rehearsal in Spatial Working Memory in the Absence of Eye Movements

1996 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 940-949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary M. Smyth
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Encoding ◽  
Rehearsal Strategy ◽  
The Right ◽  
Attention Shifts

We have previously argued that rehearsal in spatial working memory is interfered with by spatial attention shifts rather than simply by movements to locations in space (Smyth & Scholey, 1994). It is possible, however, that the stimuli intended to induce attention shifts in our experiments also induced eye movements and interfered either with an overt eye movement rehearsal strategy or with a covert one. In the first experiment reported here, subjects fixated while they maintained a sequence of spatial items in memory before recalling them in order. Fixation did not affect recall, but auditory spatial stimuli presented during the interval did decrease performance, and it was further decreased if the stimuli were categorized as coming from the right or the left. A second experiment investigated the effects of auditory spatial stimuli to which no response was ever required and found that these did not interfere with performance, indicating that it is the spatial salience of targets that leads to interference. This interference from spatial input in the absence of any overt movement of the eyes or limbs is interpreted in terms of shifts of spatial attention or spatial monitoring, which Morris (1989) has suggested affects spatial encoding and which our findings suggest also affects reactivation in rehearsal.

scholarly journals Focus of spatial attention during spatial working memory maintenance: Evidence from pupillary light response

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 10-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. Fabius ◽  
S. Mathôt ◽  
M. J. Schut ◽  
T. C. W. Nijboer ◽  
S. Van der Stigchel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Light Response ◽  
Pupillary Light

scholarly journals Beyond Reading Modulation: Temporo-Parietal tDCS Alters Visuo-Spatial Attention and Motion Perception in Dyslexia

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 263
Author(s):  
Giulia Lazzaro ◽  
Sara Bertoni ◽  
Deny Menghini ◽  
Floriana Costanzo ◽  
Sandro Franceschini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Motion Perception ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Neurocognitive Functions ◽  
Text Reading ◽  
Neuropsychological Tasks

Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder with an atypical activation of posterior left-hemisphere brain reading networks (i.e., temporo-occipital and temporo-parietal regions) and multiple neuropsychological deficits. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a tool for manipulating neural activity and, in turn, neurocognitive processes. While studies have demonstrated the significant effects of tDCS on reading, neurocognitive changes beyond reading modulation have been poorly investigated. The present study aimed at examining whether tDCS on temporo-parietal regions affected not only reading, but also phonological skills, visuo-spatial working memory, visuo-spatial attention, and motion perception in a polarity-dependent way. In a within-subjects design, ten children and adolescents with dyslexia performed reading and neuropsychological tasks after 20 min of exposure to Left Anodal/Right Cathodal (LA/RC) and Right Anodal/Left Cathodal (RA/LC) tDCS. LA/RC tDCS compared to RA/LC tDCS improved text accuracy, word recognition speed, motion perception, and modified attentional focusing in our group of children and adolescents with dyslexia. Changes in text reading accuracy and word recognition speed—after LA/RC tDCS compared to RA/LC—were related to changes in motion perception and in visuo-spatial working memory, respectively. Our findings demonstrated that reading and domain-general neurocognitive functions in a group of children and adolescents with dyslexia change following tDCS and that they are polarity-dependent.

scholarly journals Interference between smooth pursuit and color working memory

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shulin Yue ◽  
Zhenlan Jin ◽  
Chenggui Fan ◽  
Qian Zhang ◽  
Ling Li
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Smooth Pursuit ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements ◽  
Match To Sample ◽  
Pursuit Eye Movements ◽  
The Relationship

Spatial working memory (WM) and spatial attention are closely related, but the relationship between non-spatial WM and spatial attention still remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the interaction between color WM and smooth pursuit eye movements. A modified delayed-match-to-sample paradigm (DMS) was applied with 2 or 4 items presented in each visual field. Subjects memorized the colors of items in the cued visual field and smoothly moved eyes towards or away from memorized items during retention interval despite that the colored items were no longer visible. The WM performance decreased with higher load in general. More importantly, the WM performance was better when subjects pursued towards rather than away from the cued visual field. Meanwhile, the pursuit gain decreased with higher load and demonstrated a higher result when pursuing away from the cued visual field. These results indicated that spatial attention, guiding attention to the memorized items, benefits color WM. Therefore, we propose that a competition for attention resources exists between color WM and smooth pursuit eye movements.

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