Visual working memory and action: Functional links and bi-directional influences

Ede, Freek van

doi:10.1080/13506285.2020.1759744

Cited by 56 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 127 publications

(206 reference statements)

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“…Crucially, Implementation and Memorization also showed differences in frontal theta, and central mu and beta oscillations, suggesting that Implementation-specific processes go beyond the attentional prioritization of the relevant items. These mechanisms are likely involved in the reformatting of the selected S-R mappings into a behavior-optimized, action-bound process requiring the exertion of cognitive control and resulting in the preparation of the instructed motor plan (van Ede, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural oscillations track the maintenance and proceduralization of novel instructions

Formica

González-García

Senoussi

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Humans are extremely efficient in rapidly and flexibly converting complex symbolic instructions into novel behaviors. Previous evidence and theoretical models suggest that the implementation of a novel instruction requires the reformatting of its declarative content into an action-oriented code optimized for the execution of the instructed behavior. While neuroimaging research focused on identifying the brain areas involved in such process, its temporal profile and electrophysiological characteristics remain unknown. In the present study, we recorded EEG while we asked participants to either simply maintain declaratively the content of novel S-R mappings for recognition or to proactively prepare for their implementation. By means of time-frequency analyses, we isolated the oscillatory features specifically associated with the proceduralization of the encoded instruction. Before the onset of the implementation target, we observed stronger delta/low-theta activity over frontal electrodes and a significant suppression in mu and beta activity over central electrodes. On the contrary, activity in the alpha band showed no differences between the two tasks. Together, these results support the crucial role attributed to prefrontal regions in orchestrating complex task setting and further extend on it by characterizing the temporal and frequency profile of this process. Moreover, we highlight the critical involvement of motor activity in the proactive preparation for novel instruction implementation. Significance StatementHumans developed the unique ability of converting novel instructions in effective behavior. This skill is associated with activity in frontoparietal brain regions, whose interplay supports the reformatting of the declarative content of the instruction into an action-guiding representation. However, the time-resolved unfolding of such cognitive processes is still poorly understood. Here, we investigated how oscillatory brain activity differed between simple maintenance and reformatting of novel instructions. In preparation to the target, we observed differences in lower frequencies over frontal regions, and oscillatory features of motor preparation. Together, these results suggest that instruction implementation is mediated by the exertion of top-down cognitive control, reflected in theta dynamics, and motor-related activation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural oscillations track the maintenance and proceduralization of novel instructions

Formica

González-García

Senoussi

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Everyday behavior as we know it relies on the continuous selection of relevant information from both the external environment and our internal representations within memory ( 1 , 2 ). While many factors contribute to the allocation of attention ( 3 – 5 ), a prominent distinction in the literature on external attention is that between voluntary (goal-directed) and involuntary (stimulus-driven) sources of selection ( 6 – 10 ). We may voluntarily attend to a sensory stimulus because it is directly relevant to our goals, but our attention may also be captured involuntarily by stimuli in the external world.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Goal-directed and stimulus-driven selection of internal representations

Ede

Board

Nobre

2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

143

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Adaptive behavior relies on the selection of relevant sensory information from both the external environment and internal memory representations. In understanding external selection, a classic distinction is made between voluntary (goal-directed) and involuntary (stimulus-driven) guidance of attention. We have developed a task—the anti-retrocue task—to separate and examine voluntary and involuntary guidance of attention to internal representations in visual working memory. We show that both voluntary and involuntary factors influence memory performance but do so in distinct ways. Moreover, by tracking gaze biases linked to attentional focusing in memory, we provide direct evidence for an involuntary “retro-capture” effect whereby external stimuli involuntarily trigger the selection of feature-matching internal representations. We show that stimulus-driven and goal-directed influences compete for selection in memory, and that the balance of this competition—as reflected in oculomotor signatures of internal attention—predicts the quality of ensuing memory-guided behavior. Thus, goal-directed and stimulus-driven factors together determine the fate not only of perception, but also of internal representations in working memory.

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“…Again, this shows how active tasks can inform theoretical accounts. Foraging studies have also been used to shed new light on the development of WM, along with other executive functions (Ólafsdóttir, Gestsdóttir, & Kristjánsson, 2019, 2020.…”

Section: Foraging and Visual Working Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our claim is simply that any "pure" measurements of capacity may not encapsulate how we attend (in a general sense) in more natural tasks. Results from visual foraging tasks (Kristjánsson et al, 2014;2020) indicate that capacity limitations can be flexibly circumvented (Kristjánsson et al, 2018;Thornton et al, 2020), and that, if needed, observers seem to behave as if they have higher capacity, but only when this is necessary due to task constraintsperhaps because of the effort involved in loading WM (Ballard et al, 1995;Draschkow et al, 2020).…”

Section: Implications For Visual Attention and Working Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Keeping it real: Looking beyond capacity limits in visual cognition

Kristjánsson

Draschkow

2021

Atten Percept Psychophys

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Research within visual cognition has made tremendous strides in uncovering the basic operating characteristics of the visual system by reducing the complexity of natural vision to artificial but well-controlled experimental tasks and stimuli. This reductionist approach has for example been used to assess the basic limitations of visual attention, visual working memory (VWM) capacity, and the fidelity of visual long-term memory (VLTM). The assessment of these limits is usually made in a pure sense, irrespective of goals, actions, and priors. While it is important to map out the bottlenecks our visual system faces, we focus here on selected examples of how such limitations can be overcome. Recent findings suggest that during more natural tasks, capacity may be higher than reductionist research suggests and that separable systems subserve different actions, such as reaching and looking, which might provide important insights about how pure attentional or memory limitations could be circumvented. We also review evidence suggesting that the closer we get to naturalistic behavior, the more we encounter implicit learning mechanisms that operate “for free” and “on the fly.” These mechanisms provide a surprisingly rich visual experience, which can support capacity-limited systems. We speculate whether natural tasks may yield different estimates of the limitations of VWM, VLTM, and attention, and propose that capacity measurements should also pass the real-world test within naturalistic frameworks. Our review highlights various approaches for this and suggests that our understanding of visual cognition will benefit from incorporating the complexities of real-world cognition in experimental approaches.

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Visual working memory and action: Functional links and bi-directional influences

Cited by 56 publications

References 127 publications

Neural oscillations track the maintenance and proceduralization of novel instructions

Neural oscillations track the maintenance and proceduralization of novel instructions

Goal-directed and stimulus-driven selection of internal representations

Keeping it real: Looking beyond capacity limits in visual cognition

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