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Related Experiment Videos

Directing spatial attention in mental representations: Interactions between attentional orienting and working-memory

Jöran Lepsien1, Ivan C Griffin, Joseph T Devlin

  • 1Brain and Cognition Laboratory, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK. joeran.lepsien@psy.ox.ac.uk

Neuroimage
|June 16, 2005
PubMed
Summary

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Shifting spatial attention within working memory improves information retrieval, even with increased memory load. This internal spatial orienting highlights information and facilitates search, supported by specific brain activations.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Spatial attention is crucial for processing external stimuli.
  • Recent research suggests attention can also be directed to internal mental representations.
  • Understanding this internal attention is key as it influences information retrieval based on expectations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if spatial attention directed to mental representations modulates working memory search and retrieval.
  • To identify the neural systems involved in spatial orienting within working memory.

Main Methods:

  • Behavioral measures and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were employed.
  • Participants performed a visual search task after viewing an array of colored crosses, with valid or neutral spatial cues presented after memory encoding.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Working memory load was manipulated.

    • Main Results:

    • Behavioral data showed that spatial attention within working memory attenuated performance decrements typically seen with increased memory load.
    • Internal spatial orienting facilitated information search and retrieval from working memory.
    • fMRI revealed that orienting spatial attention to working memory contents activated bilateral posterior parietal cortex, insula, and lateral/medial frontal cortices.

    Conclusions:

    • Spatial attention can be effectively directed towards mental representations held in working memory.
    • This internal attentional orienting enhances working memory performance, particularly under higher load.
    • Specific neural networks, including parietal and frontal regions, underpin the ability to direct attention internally.