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Working Memory

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...

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Corticostriatal output gating during selection from working memory.

Christopher H Chatham¹, Michael J Frank¹, David Badre¹

¹Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.

|February 25, 2014

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study reveals a second "output gate" in the brain, involving frontostriatal circuits, that controls which working memory (WM) contents influence behavior. This gate, distinct from input gating, uses the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and striatum to select relevant information.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Decision Making

Background:

Corticostriatal interactions are known to gate information into working memory (WM).
Not all information within WM is simultaneously relevant for ongoing behavior.
A potential "output gate" mechanism may be necessary to regulate WM contents influencing actions.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if frontostriatal circuits, previously linked to input gating, also mediate output gating from WM.
To determine the neural basis for selecting relevant information from WM for behavioral output.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed.
A hierarchical rule task was designed to dissociate input and output gating demands.
Behavioral performance was correlated with neural activity and connectivity.

Main Results:

Greater lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) recruitment and frontostriatal connectivity were observed during output gating.
PFC recruitment correlated with the efficiency of selection from WM.
Striatal recruitment and frontostriatal interactions correlated with the reliability of WM selection.

Conclusions:

The findings support the "output gating hypothesis" for working memory.
Contextual representations in the PFC appear to modulate the striatum to gate WM output.
This mechanism allows for flexible selection of WM contents to guide behavior.