We shift our gaze even when we orient attention internally to visual representations in working memory. Here, we show the bodily orienting response associated with internal selective attention is widespread as it also includes the head. In three virtual reality (VR) experiments, participants remembered two visual items. After a working memory delay, a central colour cue indicated which item needed to be reproduced from memory. After the cue, head movements became biased in the direction of the memorised location of the cued memory item, despite there being no items to orient towards in the external environment. The head-direction bias had a distinct temporal profile from the gaze bias. Our findings reveal that directing attention within the spatial layout of visual working memory bears a strong relation to the overt head orienting response we engage when directing attention to sensory information in the external environment. The head-direction bias further demonstrates common neural circuitry is engaged during external and internal orienting of attention.

We shift our gaze even when we orient attention internally to visual representations in working memory. Here, we show the bodily orienting response associated with internal selective attention is widespread as it also includes the head. In three virtual reality experiments, participants remembered 2 visual items. After a working memory delay, a central color cue indicated which item needed to be reproduced from memory. After the cue, head movements became biased in the direction of the memorized location of the cued memory item—despite there being no items to orient toward in the external environment. The heading-direction bias had a distinct temporal profile from the gaze bias. Our findings reveal that directing attention within the spatial layout of visual working memory bears a strong relation to the overt head orienting response we engage when directing attention to sensory information in the external environment. The heading-direction bias further demonstrates common neural circuitry is engaged during external and internal orienting of attention.

The aim of the current study was to examine cross-sectionally the changes in the relationship between short- and long-term memory with age. In two experiments, participants across the age-range were tested on contextual-spatial memories, after short and long memory durations. Experimental control in stimulus materials and task demands enabled analogous encoding and probing for both memory durations. Across the two experiments, we found both short-term memory and long-term memory declined from early to late adulthood in healthy participants. Additionally, there was a significant relationship between short- and long-term memory performance which persisted throughout the age-range. Our findings suggest a significant degree of shared vulnerability for short- and long-term memories sharing the same spatial-contextual associations. Furthermore, our tasks provide a sensitive and promising framework for assessing and comparing memory function at different timescales in disorders with memory deficits at their core.