Revisiting the role of persistent neural activity during working memory

Sreenivasan, Kartik; Curtis, Clayton E.; D’Esposito, Mark

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2013.12.001

Cited by 397 publications

(365 citation statements)

References 95 publications

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“…However, at least for the within-vision stores, an alternative interpretation is that items from different categories show less interference than items from the same category, especially if, as recent brain imaging studies suggest, memory items are stored in those brain regions where they are processed to begin with (e.g., Lee, Kravitz, & Baker, 2013;Riggall & Postle, 2012;Sreenivasan, Vytlacil, & D'Esposito, 2014;Sreenivasan, Curtis, & D'Esposito, 2014):…”

Section: Chunkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interference and memory capacity limitations.

Endress

Szabó

2017

Psychological Review

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This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. However, the origins of these capacity limitations are debated, and generally attributed to active, attentional processes. Here, we show that the existence of interference among items in memory mathematically guarantees fixed and limited capacity limits under very general conditions, irrespective of any processing assumptions. Assuming that interference (i) increases with the number of interfering items and (ii) brings memory performance to chance levels for large numbers of interfering items, capacity limits are a simple function of the relative influence of memorization and interference. In contrast, we show that time-based memory limitations do not lead to fixed memory capacity limitations that are independent of the timing properties of an experiment. We show that interference can mimic both slot-like and continuous resource-like memory limitations, suggesting that these types of memory performance might not be as different as commonly believed. We speculate that slot-like WM limitations might arise from crowding-like phenomena in memory when participants have to retrieve items. Further, based on earlier research on parallel attention and enumeration, we suggest that crowding-like phenomena might be a common reason for the three major cognitive capacity limitations. As suggested by Miller (1956) and Cowan (2001), these capacity limitations might thus arise due to a common reason, even though they likely rely on distinct processes. Permanent repository link:

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Section: Chunkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interference and memory capacity limitations.

Endress

Szabó

2017

Psychological Review

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“…Such comparison processes operate in real time, and may therefore require a sustained focus of spatial attention on particular working memory representations. More generally, recognition and identification processes are unlikely to be based exclusively on object representations in visual cortical maps, but will usually also involve interactions between these representations and other areas where semantic or episodic information about particular objects is stored (e.g., Sreenivasan et al, 2014). According to global neuronal workspace models of cognitive processing (e.g., Dehaene & Naccache, 2001), such long-distance interactions between different cortical regions are likely to be based on neural activation patterns that are maintained in a stable fashion over an extended period of time.…”

Section: Object Recognition and Working Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

EPS Mid-Career Award 2014

Eimer

2015

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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In visual search, observers try to find known target objects among distractors in visual scenes where the location of the targets is uncertain. This review article discusses the attentional processes that are active during search and their neural basis. Four successive phases of visual search are described. During the initial preparatory phase, a representation of the current search goal is activated. Once visual input has arrived, information about the presence of target-matching features is accumulated in parallel across the visual field (guidance). This information is then used to allocate spatial attention to particular objects (selection), before representations of selected objects are activated in visual working memory (recognition). These four phases of attentional control in visual search are characterized both at the cognitive level and at the neural implementation level. It will become clear that search is a continuous process that unfolds in real time. Selective attention in visual search is described as the gradual emergence of spatially specific and temporally sustained biases for representations of task-relevant visual objects in cortical maps.3

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“…Persistent activity in both sensory cortices and association areas (especially the prefrontal cortex, PFC) throughout the delay interval of a WM task after sensory stimulus presentation (sample) are usually considered to be critical for WM maintenance, and to bridge the temporal gap between the sample and the subsequent contingent response (see reviews [4,5] ). However, with regard to WM the role of the delay activity in sensory cortices has been thought to differ from that of the PFC.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prefrontal cortex and sensory cortices during working memory: quantity and quality

Bodner

Zhou

2015

Neurosci. Bull.

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The activity in sensory cortices and the prefrontal cortex (PFC) throughout the delay interval of working memory (WM) tasks refl ect two aspects of WM-quality and quantity, respectively. The delay activity in sensory cortices is fi ne-tuned to sensory information and forms the neural basis of the precision of WM storage, while the delay activity in the PFC appears to represent behavioral goals and filters out irrelevant distractions, forming the neural basis of the quantity of task-relevant information in WM. The PFC and sensory cortices interact through different frequency bands of neuronal oscillation (theta, alpha, and gamma) to fulfi ll goal-directed behaviors.Keywords: working memory; prefrontal cortex; capacity limit; memory precision; neuronal oscillations ·Review· IntroductionWorking memory (WM) refers to the cognitive processes of maintaining and storing information in the short term (usually seconds) for subsequent goal-directed action [1][2][3] . Persistent activity in both sensory cortices and association areas (especially the prefrontal cortex, PFC) throughout the delay interval of a WM task after sensory stimulus presentation (sample) are usually considered to be critical for WM maintenance, and to bridge the temporal gap between the sample and the subsequent contingent response (see reviews [4,5] ). However, with regard to WM the role of the delay activity in sensory cortices has been thought to differ from that of the PFC. The former has been thought to represent and store selective sensory information and the latter has been considered to exert attentional bias and cognitive control over the former (see reviews [6,7] ).Despite the vast storage in human long-term memory, WM has been demonstrated to have a capacity limited by the number of items [8,9] and this is strongly correlated with general cognitive ability [10,11] . Recent advances in studying visual WM have shown a precision limit of representations in WM besides the capacity limit [12][13][14][15][16] .Combined with the above findings, we propose that delay activity in the sensory cortices and PFC reflect the quality and quantity of representations in WM, respectively. Specifically, in this review, quantity refers to how many items/slots are stored in working memory, and quality refers to how precisely the features of each item/slot are represented in WM. Sensory Cortices and the Quality of Working MemoryNeurons in the PFC have been shown to respond to sensory stimuli in WM tasks [17,18] . Compared with those PFC neurons, neurons in sensory cortices appear to be more selectively tuned to stimulus features in WM tasks Neurosci Bull April 1, 2015, 31(2): 175-182 176 and consequently to maintain high-fi delity representations of stimulus information in the service of WM [19] .Some human imaging as well as neurophysiological studies in non-human primates have indicated an absence of persistent activity in early sensory regions [20][21][22][23][24] . However, other primate studies have revealed persistent modulation of neuronal activity i...

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Revisiting the role of persistent neural activity during working memory

Cited by 397 publications

References 95 publications

Interference and memory capacity limitations.

Interference and memory capacity limitations.

EPS Mid-Career Award 2014

Prefrontal cortex and sensory cortices during working memory: quantity and quality

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