scholarly journals Contralateral Delay Activity Tracks Fluctuations in Working Memory Performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (9) ◽  
pp. 1229-1240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten C. S. Adam ◽  
Matthew K. Robison ◽  
Edward K. Vogel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Memory Storage ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Contralateral Delay Activity ◽  
Trial Performance

Neural measures of working memory storage, such as the contralateral delay activity (CDA), are powerful tools in working memory research. CDA amplitude is sensitive to working memory load, reaches an asymptote at known behavioral limits, and predicts individual differences in capacity. An open question, however, is whether neural measures of load also track trial-by-trial fluctuations in performance. Here, we used a whole-report working memory task to test the relationship between CDA amplitude and working memory performance. If working memory failures are due to decision-based errors and retrieval failures, CDA amplitude would not differentiate good and poor performance trials when load is held constant. If failures arise during storage, then CDA amplitude should track both working memory load and trial-by-trial performance. As expected, CDA amplitude tracked load (Experiment 1), reaching an asymptote at three items. In Experiment 2, we tracked fluctuations in trial-by-trial performance. CDA amplitude was larger (more negative) for high-performance trials compared with low-performance trials, suggesting that fluctuations in performance were related to the successful storage of items. During working memory failures, participants oriented their attention to the correct side of the screen (lateralized P1) and maintained covert attention to the correct side during the delay period (lateralized alpha power suppression). Despite the preservation of attentional orienting, we found impairments consistent with an executive attention theory of individual differences in working memory capacity; fluctuations in executive control (indexed by pretrial frontal theta power) may be to blame for storage failures.

scholarly journals Adult neuromarkers of sustained attention and working memory predict inter- and intra-individual differences in these processes in youth

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omid Kardan ◽  
Andrew J Stier ◽  
Carlos Cardenas-Inigues ◽  
Julia C Pruin ◽  
Kathryn E Schertz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Working Memory Model ◽  
Back Task

Sustained attention and working memory are central cognitive processes that vary between individuals, fluctuate over time, and have consequences for life and health outcomes. Here we characterize the functional brain architecture of these abilities in 9-11-year-old children using models based on functional magnetic resonance imaging functional connectivity. Using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, we asked whether connectome-based models built to predict sustained attention and working memory in adults generalize to capture inter- and intra-individual differences in sustained attention and working memory performance in youth. Results revealed that a predefined connectome-based model of sustained attention predicted children's performance on the 0-back task, an attentionally taxing low-working-memory-load task. A predefined connectome-based model of working memory, on the other hand, also predicted performance on the 2-back task, an attentionally taxing high-working-memory-load task. The sustained attention model's predictive power was comparable to that achieved when predicting adults' 0-back performance and by a connectome-based model of cognition defined in the ABCD sample itself. Finally, the working memory model predicted children's recognition memory for n-back task stimuli. Together these results demonstrate that connectome-based models of sustained attention and working memory generalize to youth, reflecting the functional architecture of these processes in the developing brain.

EXPRESS: Bored, distracted and forgetful – The impact of mind wandering and boredom on memory encoding

2021 ◽  
pp. 174702182110263
Author(s):  
Philippe Blondé ◽  
Marco Sperduti ◽  
Dominique Makowski ◽  
Pascale Piolino
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Load Condition ◽  
Recognition Task ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Memory Encoding ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Thought Probes ◽  
The Impact

Mind wandering, defined as focusing attention toward task unrelated thoughts, is a common mental state known to impair memory encoding. This phenomenon is closely linked to boredom. Very few studies, however, have tested the potential impact of boredom on memory encoding. Thus, the present study aimed at manipulating mind wandering and boredom during an incidental memory encoding task, to test their differential impact on memory encoding. Thirty-two participants performed a variant of the n-back task in which they had to indicate if the current on-screen object was the same as the previous one (1-back; low working memory load) or the one presented three trials before (3-back; high working memory load). Moreover, thought probes assessing either mind wandering or boredom were randomly presented. Afterward, a surprise recognition task was delivered. Results showed that mind wandering and boredom were highly correlated, and both decreased in the high working memory load condition, while memory performance increased. Although both boredom and mind wandering predicted memory performance taken separately, we found that mind wandering was the only reliable predictor of memory performance when controlling for boredom and working memory load. Model comparisons also revealed that a model with boredom only was outperformed by a model with mind wandering only and a model with both mind wandering and boredom, suggesting that the predictive contribution of boredom in the complete model is minimal. The present results confirm the high correlation between mind wandering and boredom and suggest that the hindering effect of boredom on memory is subordinate to the effect of mind wandering.

Abnormal prefrontal activity subserving attentional control of emotion in remitted depressed patients during a working memory task with emotional distracters

2011 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Kerestes ◽  
C. D. Ladouceur ◽  
S. Meda ◽  
P. J. Nathan ◽  
H. P. Blumberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
The Right

BackgroundPatients with major depressive disorder (MDD) show deficits in processing of facial emotions that persist beyond recovery and cessation of treatment. Abnormalities in neural areas supporting attentional control and emotion processing in remitted depressed (rMDD) patients suggests that there may be enduring, trait-like abnormalities in key neural circuits at the interface of cognition and emotion, but this issue has not been studied systematically.MethodNineteen euthymic, medication-free rMDD patients (mean age 33.6 years; mean duration of illness 34 months) and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC; mean age 35.8 years) performed the Emotional Face N-Back (EFNBACK) task, a working memory task with emotional distracter stimuli. We used blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure neural activity in the dorsolateral (DLPFC) and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), ventral striatum and amygdala, using a region of interest (ROI) approach in SPM2.ResultsrMDD patients exhibited significantly greater activity relative to HC in the left DLPFC [Brodmann area (BA) 9/46] in response to negative emotional distracters during high working memory load. By contrast, rMDD patients exhibited significantly lower activity in the right DLPFC and left VLPFC compared to HC in response to positive emotional distracters during high working memory load. These effects occurred during accurate task performance.ConclusionsRemitted depressed patients may continue to exhibit attentional biases toward negative emotional information, reflected by greater recruitment of prefrontal regions implicated in attentional control in the context of negative emotional information.

Effects of a secondary task and working memory load on multisensory hand position

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (0) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Katrina Quinn ◽  
Francia Acosta-Saltos ◽  
Jan W. de Fockert ◽  
Charles Spence ◽  
Andrew J. Bremner
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Hand Position ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Task Conditions ◽  
Relative Weighting

Information about where our hands are arises from different sensory modalities; chiefly proprioception and vision. These inputs differ in variability from situation to situation (or task to task). According to the idea of ‘optimal integration’, the information provided by different sources is combined in proportion to their relative reliabilities, thus maximizing the reliability of the combined estimate. It is uncertain whether optimal multisensory integration of multisensory contributions to limb position requires executive resources. If so, then it should be possible to observe effects of secondary task performance and/or working memory load (WML) on the relative weighting of the senses under conditions of crossmodal sensory conflict. Alternatively, an integrated signal may be affected by upstream influences of WML or a secondary task on the reliabilities of the individual sensory inputs. We examine these possibilities in two experiments which examine effects of WML on reaching tasks in which bisensory visual-proprioceptive (Exp. 1), and unisensory proprioceptive (Exp. 2) cues to hand position are provided. WML increased visual capture under conditions of visual-proprioceptive conflict, regardless of the direction of visual-proprioceptive conflict, and the degree of load imposed. This indicates that task-switching (rather than WML load) leads to an increased reliance on visual information regardless of its task-specific reliability (Exp. 1). This could not be explained due to an increase in the variability of proprioception under secondary working memory task conditions (Exp. 2). We conclude that executive resources are involved in the relative weighting of visual and proprioceptive cues to hand position.

scholarly journals Working Memory and the Suppression of Reflexive Saccades

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason P. Mitchell ◽  
C. Neil Macrae ◽  
Iain D. Gilchrist
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Antisaccade Task ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Reflexive Saccades ◽  
Back Task

Conscious behavioral intentions can frequently fail under conditions of attentional depletion. In attempting to trace the cognitive origin of this effect, we hypothesized that failures of action control—specifically, oculomotor movement—can result from the imposition of fronto-executive load. To evaluate this prediction, participants performed an antisaccade task while simultaneously completing a working-memory task that is known to make variable demands on prefrontal processes (n-back task, see Jonides et al., 1997). The results of two experiments are reported. As expected, antisaccade error rates were increased in accordance with the fronto-executive demands of the n-back task (Experiment 1). In addition, the debilitating effects of working-memory load were restricted to the inhibitory component of the antisaccade task (Experiment 2). These findings corroborate the view that working memory operations play a critical role in the suppression of prepotent behavioral responses.

scholarly journals Perturbing Neural Representations of Working Memory with Task-irrelevant Interruption

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 558-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Hakim ◽  
Tobias Feldmann-Wüstefeld ◽  
Edward Awh ◽  
Edward K. Vogel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Neural Signals ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Contralateral Delay Activity ◽  
The Face ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
The Impact

Working memory maintains information so that it can be used in complex cognitive tasks. A key challenge for this system is to maintain relevant information in the face of task-irrelevant perturbations. Across two experiments, we investigated the impact of task-irrelevant interruptions on neural representations of working memory. We recorded EEG activity in humans while they performed a working memory task. On a subset of trials, we interrupted participants with salient but task-irrelevant objects. To track the impact of these task-irrelevant interruptions on neural representations of working memory, we measured two well-characterized, temporally sensitive EEG markers that reflect active, prioritized working memory representations: the contralateral delay activity and lateralized alpha power (8–12 Hz). After interruption, we found that contralateral delay activity amplitude momentarily sustained but was gone by the end of the trial. Lateralized alpha power was immediately influenced by the interrupters but recovered by the end of the trial. This suggests that dissociable neural processes contribute to the maintenance of working memory information and that brief irrelevant onsets disrupt two distinct online aspects of working memory. In addition, we found that task expectancy modulated the timing and magnitude of how these two neural signals responded to task-irrelevant interruptions, suggesting that the brain's response to task-irrelevant interruption is shaped by task context.

scholarly journals Learning to suppress a distractor is not affected by working memory load

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya Gao ◽  
Jan Theeuwes
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
High Probability ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Automatic Process ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Statistical Regularities

AbstractWhere and what we attend to is not only determined by our current goals but also by what we have encountered in the past. Recent studies have shown that people learn to extract statistical regularities in the environment resulting in attentional suppression of high-probability distractor locations, effectively reducing capture by a distractor. Here, we asked whether this statistical learning is dependent on working memory resources. The additional singleton task in which one location was more likely to contain a distractor was combined with a concurrent visual working memory task (Experiment 1) and a spatial working memory task (Experiment 2). The result showed that learning to suppress this high-probability location was not at all affected by working memory load. We conclude that learning to suppress a location is an implicit and automatic process that does not rely on visual or spatial working memory capacity, nor on executive control resources. We speculate that extracting regularities from the environment likely relies on long-term memory processes.

Performance Dissociation during Verbal and Spatial Working Memory Tasks

2007 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 243-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie J. Nagel ◽  
Arthur Ohannessian ◽  
Kevin Cummins
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Task Design ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Working Memory Load

Past research has inconsistently distinguished the neural substrates of various types of working memory. Task design and individual performance differences are known to alter patterns of brain response during working-memory tasks. These task and individual differences may have produced discrepancies in imaging findings. This study of 50 healthy adults ( Mage = 19.6 yr., SD = .8) examined performance during various parametric manipulations of a verbal and spatial n-back working-memory task. Performance systematically dissociated on the basis of working-memory load, working memory type, and stimulus difficulty, with participants having greater accuracy but slower response time during conditions requiring verbal versus spatial working memory. These findings hold implications for cognitive and neuroimaging studies of verbal and spatial working memory and highlight the importance of considering both task design and individual behavior.

scholarly journals The Role of Cognitive Load in Intentional Forgetting Using the Think/No-Think Task

2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saima Noreen ◽  
Jan W. de Fockert
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Load Condition ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Working Memory Load ◽  
Intentional Forgetting ◽  
Probe Test ◽  
Target Words

Abstract. We investigated the role of cognitive control in intentional forgetting by manipulating working memory load during the think/no-think task. In two experiments, participants learned a series of cue-target word pairs and were asked to recall the target words associated with some cues or to avoid thinking about the target associated with other cues. In addition to this, participants also performed a modified version of the n-back task which required them to respond to the identity of a single target letter present in the currently presented cue word (n = 0 condition, low working memory load), and in either the previous cue word (n = 1 condition, high working memory load, Experiment 1) or the cue word presented two trials previously (n = 2 condition, high working memory load, Experiment 2). Participants’ memory for the target words was subsequently tested using same and novel independent probes. In both experiments it was found that although participants were successful at forgetting on both the same and independent-probe tests in the low working memory load condition, they were only successful at forgetting on the same-probe test in the high working memory load condition. We argue that our findings suggest that the high load working memory task diverted attention from direct suppression and acted as an interference-based strategy. Thus, when cognitive resources are limited participants can switch between the strategies they use to prevent unwanted memories from coming to mind.

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