Areas of left perisylvian cortex mediate auditory–verbal short-term memory

Abstract

A contentious issue in memory research is whether verbal short-term memory (STM) depends on a neural system specifically dedicated to the temporary maintenance of information, or instead relies on the same brain areas subserving the comprehension and production of language. In this study, we examined a large sample of adults with acquired brain lesions to identify the critical neural substrates underlying verbal STM and the relationship between verbal STM and language processing abilities. We found that patients with damage to selective regions of left perisylvian cortex—specifically the inferior frontal and posterior temporal sectors—were impaired on auditory-verbal STM performance (digit span), as well as on tests requiring the production and/or comprehension of language. These results support the conclusion that verbal STM and language processing are mediated by the same areas of left perisylvian cortex.

Neuropsychiatry of Neuromyelitis Optica

“…A verbal memory test (BCcog-SRT) was found to be correlated logically to regions of importance for episodic memory (thalamus, fornix, hippocampus, frontal lobe) and for recognizing words (lingual gyrus) [ 46 ]. Digit span was found to be correlated with perisylvian atrophy, as previously described [ 47 ]. DSST, a speed writing test, was found to be correlated with the precentral gyrus, which is also the primary motor cortex, indispensable to do this test.…”

Phonological Working Memory for Words and Nonwords in Cerebral Cortex

“…Superior temporal cortices are now routinely implicated in functional neuroimaging studies of auditory short-term memory (e.g., Buchsbaum et al, 2005;Strand, Forssberg, Klingberg, & Norrelgen, 2008), and anatomical neuroimaging studies have found correlations between the macroanatomical structure of the superior temporal cortex and verbal working memory capacity in individuals with both language-impaired and developmentally typical profiles (Lu et al, 2016;Richardson et al, 2011). These results parallel growing evidence from large-sample studies of auditory short-term memory deficits following brain injury, which specifically attribute this impairment to lesioned tissue in left superior temporal cortex (Koenigs et al, 2011;Leff et al, 2009). Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied to left posterior superior temporal gyrus (STG) has also been shown to interfere in the maintenance of nonwords in short-term memory (Acheson, Hamidi, Binder, & Postle, 2011).…”

“…TMS studies of phonological working memory have shown that disruption of the posterior superior temporal region in the left hemisphere disrupts phonological working memory as well as language production ; however, corresponding sites in the right hemisphere were not assessed. Lesion studies, on the other hand, have overwhelmingly demonstrated that phonological working memory deficits are associated with specifically left hemisphere injury (e.g., Koenigs et al, 2011;Leff et al, 2009). Structural neuroimaging studies have also found relationships between superior temporal morphometry of the left, but not right, hemisphere and phonological working memory ability (Richardson et al, 2011).…”

tDCS to temporoparietal cortex during familiarisation enhances the subsequent phonological coherence of nonwords in immediate serial recall

“…Instead, the increased excitability elicited by anodal tDCS (during stimulation; Stagg & Nitsche, 2011) facilitated the acquisition of the phonological forms of the nonwords in long-term memory. This effect is likely to reflect the contributions of a number of neighbouring brain regions supporting aspects of phonological processing, including phonological short-term memory (Warrington & Shallice, 1969;Paulesu, Frith, & Frackowiak, 1993;Jonides et al, 1998;Henson, Burgess, & Frith, 2000;Buchsbaum & Esposito, 2008;Buchsbaum, Padmanabhan, & Berman, 2010;Acheson et al, 2011;Koenigs et al, 2011), phoneme sequencing (Gelfand & Bookheimer, 2003;Moser et al, 2009), translation of auditory to articulatory representations (Hickok & Poeppel, 2000;Papoutsi et al, 2009;Hickok, Houde, & Rong, 2011;Peschke, Ziegler, Eisenberger, & Baumgaertner, 2012), stimulus-driven attention (Downar, Crawley, Mikulis, & Davis, 2001;Ravizza, Hazeltine, Ruiz, & Zhu, 2011;Cabeza, Ciaramelli, & Moscovitch, 2012) and auditory processing for speech (posterior superior temporal cortex).…”