A new electrophysiological index for working memory load in humans

Missonnier, Pascal; Leonards, Ute; Gold, Gabriel; Palix, Julie; Ibáñez, V.; Giannakopoulos, Pantéleimon

doi:10.1097/00001756-200308060-00009

Cited by 44 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Among the neuronal responses reflecting these processes a reliable effect of attention on P2 amplitude was previously reported (Missonnier et al, 2003). Given that mental workload is inversely related to attentional reserve, Miller et al (2011) suggested that the P2 amplitude decrease may represent a reduction in the allocation of attention to the target stimuli.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Assessment of mental workload: A new electrophysiological method based on intra-block averaging of ERP amplitudes

et al. 2016

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present study contributes to the current debate about electrophysiological measurements of mental workload. Specifically, the allocation of attentional resources during different complexity levels of tasks and its changes over time are of great interest. Therefore, we investigated mental workload using tasks varying in difficulty during an auditory oddball target paradigm. For data analysis, we applied a novel method to compute event-related potentials (ERPs) by intra-block epoch averaging of P2, P3a and P3b amplitude components for the infrequent target stimuli. We obtained eight consecutive blocks of 5 epochs each, which allowed us to develop an electrophysiological parameter to measure mental workload. In both the easy and the more constraining tasks, the amplitude of P2 decreased beginning with the second block of the sequence. In contrast, the amplitudes of P3a and P3b components linearly decreased following the repetition of the target in the more constraining task, but not in the easy task. Statistical analysis revealed intra-block differences on amplitudes of ERPs of interest between the easy and the more constraining tasks, confirming this method as a measure to assess mental workload. Since a subject is his own control, the present method represents an electrophysiological parameter for individual measurement of mental workload and may therefore be applicable in clinical routine.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Assessment of mental workload: A new electrophysiological method based on intra-block averaging of ERP amplitudes

et al. 2016

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In particular, a significant decrease of P200 and N200 latencies is observed after stimulus onset during the 2 working memory conditions. 14,15 This decrease may correspond to the encoding and retrieval phases of working memory processing that follow sensory processes. 16,17 Among brain oscillations, earlier reports pointed to the reactivity of the θ frequency bands (4-8 Hz) to various memory paradigms reflecting the corticohippocampal interactions needed in case of increasing memory load.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two earlier studies revealed that modulation of P200 and N200 latencies during the n-back task is related to the development of an additional working memory load-related parietal compon ent. 14,15 To our knowledge, this study is the first to explore P200 and N200 latencies in patients with first-episode psychosis using working memory paradigms. As expected, P200 latencies decreased as a function of working memory load in patients and controls.…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

Event-related potentials and changes of brain rhythm oscillations during working memory activation in patients with first-episode psychosis

Missonnier

Herrmann

Zanello

et al. 2012

J Psychiatry Neurosci

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Earlier contributions have documented significant changes in sensory, attention-related endogenous event-related potential (ERP) components and theta band oscillatory responses during working memory activation in patients with schizophrenia. In patients with first-episode psychosis, such studies are still scarce and mostly focused on auditory sensory processing. The present study aimed to explore whether subtle deficits of cortical activation are present in these patients before the decline of working memory performance. Methods: We assessed exogenous and endogenous ERPs and frontal theta event-related synchronization (ERS) in patients with first-episode psychosis and healthy controls who successfully performed an adapted 2-back working memory task, including 2 visual n-backworking memory tasks as well as oddball detection and passive fixation tasks. Results: We included 15 patients with first-episode psychosis and 18 controls in this study. Compared with controls, patients with first-episode psychosis displayed increased latencies of early visual ERPs and phasic theta ERS culmination peak in all conditions. However, they also showed a rapid recruitment of working memory-related neural generators, even in pure attention tasks, as indicated by the decreased N200 latency and increased amplitude of sustained theta ERS in detection compared with controls. Limitations: Owing to the limited sample size, no distinction was made between patients with first-episode psychosis with positive and negative symptoms. Although we controlled for the global load of neuroleptics, medication effect cannot be totally ruled out. Conclusion: The present findings support the concept of a blunted electroencephalographic response in patients with first-episode psychosis who recruit the maximum neural generators in simple attention conditions without being able to modulate their brain activation with increased complexity of working memory tasks

show abstract

“…Short lasting b-oscillations have been observed following voluntary hand movement (Pfurtscheller et al, 1997;Lalo et al, 2007) whereas lower frequency oscillations such as, d (1-3 Hz) have been linked with sleep. By contrast, cortical oscillations in the g (30-50 Hz) band frequency recorded from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the hippocampus represent important electrophysiological processes, which have been associated with higher order cognitive tasks including working memory (TallonBaudry and Bertrand, 1999;Howard et al, 2003;Kaiser and Lutzenberger, 2003;Missonnier et al, 2003). For example, increases in working memory loads have been associated with increases in the power of induced g-oscillations in the DLPFC of healthy human subjects (Howard et al, 2003) and abnormalities of g-oscillations have been associated with the working memory deficits in patients with schizophrenia (Cho et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suppression of γ-Oscillations in the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex following Long Interval Cortical Inhibition: A TMS–EEG Study

Farzan

Barr

Wong

et al. 2008

Neuropsychopharmacol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gamma (g)-oscillations (30-50 Hz) represent important electrophysiological measures, which are generated through the execution of higher order cognitive tasks (eg, working memory) in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). By contrast, cortical inhibition (CI) refers to a neurophysiological process in which GABAergic inhibitory interneurons selectively suppress the activation of other neurons in the cortex. Recently, abnormalities in both CI and g-oscillations have been associated with various neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia. Animal research suggests that suppression of g-oscillations is, in part, mediated through GABAergic inhibitory neurotransmission. However, no such evidence has been demonstrated in human, largely because of technological limitations. Recently, we reported on novel methods permitting the recording of CI from the DLPFC through transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) combined with electroencephalography (EEG). The aim of this study was to examine the effects of GABAergic inhibitory neurotransmission on g-oscillations by combining TMS with EEG. Long interval cortical inhibition (LICI), a paired TMS paradigm, was used to index GABA B receptor mediated inhibitory neurotransmission in the motor cortex and DLPFC of healthy individuals. g-Oscillations were significantly inhibited by LICI (38.1±26.5%; pp0.013) in the DLPFC but not in the motor cortex. These results provide neurophysiological evidence to demonstrate g-oscillations are inhibited by LICI in the DLPFC but not in the motor cortex. Such specificity suggests that the modulation of g-oscillations may represent an important neurophysiological process that may, in part, be responsible for optimal DLPFC functioning in healthy human subjects.

show abstract

A new electrophysiological index for working memory load in humans

Cited by 44 publications

References 12 publications

Assessment of mental workload: A new electrophysiological method based on intra-block averaging of ERP amplitudes

Assessment of mental workload: A new electrophysiological method based on intra-block averaging of ERP amplitudes

Event-related potentials and changes of brain rhythm oscillations during working memory activation in patients with first-episode psychosis

Suppression of γ-Oscillations in the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex following Long Interval Cortical Inhibition: A TMS–EEG Study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About