Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Working Memory01:24

Working Memory

Working memory refers to a combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow an individual to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks. It is an essential cognitive function that enables the execution of complex tasks such as problem-solving, comprehension, and reasoning. Unlike short-term memory, which simply involves the storage of information for a brief period, working memory involves the active manipulation and processing of this information.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Not simply two sides of the same coin: Target enhancement and distractor suppression draw on independent neural mechanisms.

Attention, perception & psychophysics·2026
Same author

Anatomical Connectivity Constrains Dynamic Functional Connectivity among Neural Systems: Implications for Cognition and Behavior.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2024
Same author

'Working memory is a distributed dynamic process'.

Cognitive neuroscience·2022
Same author

Modulation of Peak Alpha Frequency Oscillations During Working Memory Is Greater in Females Than Males.

Frontiers in human neuroscience·2021
Same author

Lessons from Leslie: A Tribute to an Extraordinary Scientist and Mentor.

Trends in neurosciences·2021
Same author

Knowledge of objects' physical properties implicitly guides attention during visual search.

Journal of experimental psychology. General·2020
Same journal

The association between daily real-time assessment of subjective cognitive function and objective cognition using ecological momentary assessment.

Neuropsychology·2026
Same journal

Obtaining comparable measurement of midlife cognitive functioning from disparate cognitive tasks.

Neuropsychology·2026
Same journal

Cognitive impairments associated with meningiomas and gliomas in adults: A systematic review.

Neuropsychology·2026
Same journal

Neuropsychological assessment in low-resource versus high-resource contexts: A reply to comments on Stiers (2026).

Neuropsychology·2026
Same journal

Testing is important: A truism worth remembering.

Neuropsychology·2026
Same journal

Of dogs and diagnoses: Does clinical reasoning still matter in an age of biomarkers, functional imaging, and artificial intelligence?

Neuropsychology·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 27, 2026

A Metric Test for Assessing Spatial Working Memory in Adult Rats Following Traumatic Brain Injury
05:53

A Metric Test for Assessing Spatial Working Memory in Adult Rats Following Traumatic Brain Injury

Published on: May 7, 2021

Deconstructing spatial working memory and attention deficits in multiple sclerosis.

Leon Gmeindl1, Susan M Courtney

  • 1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-2686, USA. gmeindl@jhu.edu

Neuropsychology
|November 9, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Spatial working memory (WM) is impaired in multiple sclerosis (MS) due to attention deficits, not encoding or retrieval issues. This impacts spatial information processing in individuals with MS.

More Related Videos

Virtual Reality Tools for Assessing Unilateral Spatial Neglect: A Novel Opportunity for Data Collection
07:04

Virtual Reality Tools for Assessing Unilateral Spatial Neglect: A Novel Opportunity for Data Collection

Published on: March 10, 2021

An Appetitive Spatial Working Memory Task for Mice in a Semi-Automated 8-Arm Radial Maze, Reducing Fearful Memory Association in the Maze
14:24

An Appetitive Spatial Working Memory Task for Mice in a Semi-Automated 8-Arm Radial Maze, Reducing Fearful Memory Association in the Maze

Published on: July 29, 2025

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 27, 2026

A Metric Test for Assessing Spatial Working Memory in Adult Rats Following Traumatic Brain Injury
05:53

A Metric Test for Assessing Spatial Working Memory in Adult Rats Following Traumatic Brain Injury

Published on: May 7, 2021

Virtual Reality Tools for Assessing Unilateral Spatial Neglect: A Novel Opportunity for Data Collection
07:04

Virtual Reality Tools for Assessing Unilateral Spatial Neglect: A Novel Opportunity for Data Collection

Published on: March 10, 2021

An Appetitive Spatial Working Memory Task for Mice in a Semi-Automated 8-Arm Radial Maze, Reducing Fearful Memory Association in the Maze
14:24

An Appetitive Spatial Working Memory Task for Mice in a Semi-Automated 8-Arm Radial Maze, Reducing Fearful Memory Association in the Maze

Published on: July 29, 2025

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neurology

Background:

  • Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological disease affecting the central nervous system.
  • Cognitive impairments, particularly in working memory (WM), are common in MS patients.
  • Understanding specific WM deficits is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if spatial working memory is impaired in individuals with MS.
  • To identify specific cognitive subprocesses within WM that may be affected.
  • To investigate the underlying mechanisms of potential spatial WM deficits in MS.

Main Methods:

  • Employed computerized memory-span and visuomotor tasks to assess spatial working memory in MS and control groups.
  • Manipulated task parameters such as serial order, delay duration, and distractor presence to probe WM subprocesses.
  • Utilized recall and recognition tests, alongside an attention-cueing task, to evaluate memory retrieval and attentional reorientation.

Main Results:

  • Individuals with MS demonstrated significantly worse performance in spatial recall and recognition tasks compared to controls.
  • No significant deficits were found in spatiotemporal binding, maintenance, retrieval, distractor suppression, or visuomotor processing.
  • MS participants exhibited abnormally slowed voluntary reorientation of attention.

Conclusions:

  • Spatial working memory is indeed impaired in individuals with MS.
  • The primary deficit appears to be in the initial encoding of spatial information, potentially linked to attention.
  • Maintaining and retrieving spatial information once encoded is generally preserved in MS, suggesting inefficient attention underlies the observed WM impairments.