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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 1, 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

Linear and nonlinear prefrontal and parietal activity during multiple-item working memory.

Yuji Yi¹, Hoi-Chung Leung

¹New York Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA. yujiyi@pi.cpmc.columbia.edu

|May 21, 2011

Summary

Working memory relies on prefrontal and parietal cortex activity. Item similarity, not just quantity, influences brain activity during visual memory tasks, suggesting interference plays a key role.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Neuroimaging
Human Brain Imaging

Background:

Prefrontal and posterior parietal cortices sustain activity for visual working memory.
Activity in these regions typically increases with memory set size.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how feature selectivity, memory load, and inter-item interference affect sustained brain activity.
To compare fMRI signals during the retention of single versus multiple visual items from same or different feature categories.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity in 16 young adults.
Participants performed visual working memory tasks involving single items and pairs of items (same or different feature categories).

Main Results:

Three distinct activation patterns were observed in prefrontal and parietal cortices.
Some areas showed linear or nonlinear increases in activity with memory set size for specific features.
Other areas showed disproportionate activation for same-category items (e.g., two lines) compared to different-category items (e.g., line and color).
The left posterior intraparietal sulcus showed minimal effect of memory set size irrespective of item features.

Conclusions:

Visual feature homogeneity and memory-set homogeneity significantly influence prefrontal and parietal activity during working memory.
Interactions or interference between visual stimuli, particularly within the same feature category, are critical factors affecting working memory capacity.