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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 24, 2026

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

Published on: July 16, 2015

Interference of working memory load with long-term memory formation.

Nikolai Axmacher¹, Sven Haupt, Michael X Cohen

¹Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany. nikolai.axmacher@ukb.uni-bonn.de

The European Journal of Neuroscience

|March 25, 2009

Summary

Maintaining multiple items in working memory (WM) impairs long-term memory (LTM) encoding. The medial temporal lobe (MTL) shows interaction between WM and LTM, particularly the parahippocampal cortex (PHC).

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Memory Research

Background:

Traditionally, the medial temporal lobe (MTL) was considered crucial for long-term memory (LTM) encoding but not working memory (WM) maintenance.
Emerging evidence suggests MTL involvement in WM, especially when multiple items are held, challenging this distinction.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether maintaining multiple items in WM interferes with simultaneous LTM encoding.
To explore the neural mechanisms underlying the interaction between WM and LTM within the MTL.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to monitor brain activity during LTM encoding.
Participants performed simultaneous WM maintenance of either single or multiple items alongside LTM encoding tasks.
Analysis included examining WM-related and LTM-related hippocampal activation and parahippocampal cortex (PHC) activity.

Main Results:

WM maintenance of multiple items significantly impaired simultaneous LTM encoding compared to single-item maintenance.
Hippocampal activation was higher for high WM load during WM maintenance but stronger for LTM encoding under low WM load.
Successful LTM encoding correlated with heightened PHC activity, indicating its role in WM-LTM interaction.

Conclusions:

High working memory load interferes with long-term memory encoding.
The parahippocampal cortex (PHC) acts as a critical hub for WM-LTM interactions within the medial temporal lobe (MTL).
Findings support the notion that working memory and long-term memory processes are not strictly segregated and interact within the MTL.