Essential considerations for exploring visual working memory storage in the human brain

Polina Iamshchinina; Thomas B. Christophel; Surya Gayet; Rosanne L. Rademaker

doi:10.1080/13506285.2021.1915902

Essential considerations for exploring visual working memory storage in the human brain

Polina Iamshchinina, Thomas B. Christophel, Surya Gayet, Rosanne L. Rademaker^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Visual working memory (VWM) relies on a distributed cortical network. Yet, the extent to which individual cortical areas, like early visual cortex and intraparietal sulcus, are essential to VWM storage remains debated. Here, we reanalyze key datasets from two independent labs to address three topics at the forefront of current-day VWM research: Resiliency of mnemonic representations against visual distraction, the role of attentional priority in memory, and brain–behavior relationships. By utilizing different analysis approaches, each designed to test different aspects of mnemonic coding, our results provide a comprehensive perspective on the role of early visual and intraparietal areas. We emphasize the importance of analysis choices, and how a thorough understanding of the principles they test is crucial for unraveling the distributed mechanisms of VWM. Consequently, we caution against the idea of a singular essential storage area, which could limit our comprehension of the VWM system.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	425-436
Number of pages	12
Journal	Visual Cognition
Volume	29
Issue number	7
Early online date	5 May 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/13506285.2021.1915902
Publication status	Published - 2021
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin (no grant number applicable) (PI), a DFG Emmy Noether Research Group Grant CH 1674/2-1 (TBC), a Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research Vl.Veni.191G.085 grant (SG), and the European Union?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 743941 (RLR); Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. We thank John Serences and John-Dylan Haynes for the data collected in their respective labs, without which this paper would not have been possible.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

Visual working memory
brain–behavior relationship
early visual cortex
fMRI
posterior parietal cortex
sensory recruitment

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10.1080/13506285.2021.1915902

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abstract = "Visual working memory (VWM) relies on a distributed cortical network. Yet, the extent to which individual cortical areas, like early visual cortex and intraparietal sulcus, are essential to VWM storage remains debated. Here, we reanalyze key datasets from two independent labs to address three topics at the forefront of current-day VWM research: Resiliency of mnemonic representations against visual distraction, the role of attentional priority in memory, and brain–behavior relationships. By utilizing different analysis approaches, each designed to test different aspects of mnemonic coding, our results provide a comprehensive perspective on the role of early visual and intraparietal areas. We emphasize the importance of analysis choices, and how a thorough understanding of the principles they test is crucial for unraveling the distributed mechanisms of VWM. Consequently, we caution against the idea of a singular essential storage area, which could limit our comprehension of the VWM system.",

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Essential considerations for exploring visual working memory storage in the human brain

Abstract

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Keywords

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