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Updated: Apr 1, 2026

Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention
Published on: September 11, 2017
Cortical and Subcortical Contributions to Short-Term Memory for Orienting Movements
Charles D Kopec1, Jeffrey C Erlich2, Bingni W Brunton3
1Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA; Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
Short-term memory (STM) relies on frontal cortical areas, but their necessity is debated. Inactivating frontal orienting fields (FOF) or superior colliculus revealed their crucial, time-dependent roles in memory-guided orienting.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Frontal cortical activity is linked to short-term memory (STM).
- The precise role of frontal cortical areas in STM formation, maintenance, and readout remains unclear.
- Frontal orienting fields in cortex (FOF) are hypothesized to be critical for STM maintenance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the necessity of FOF and superior colliculus for short-term memory (STM).
- To reconcile conflicting data from neural encoding and inactivation studies of STM.
- To test predictions of a dynamical attractor model of STM.
Main Methods:
- Transient inactivation of FOF or superior colliculus in rats performing a memory-guided orienting task.
- Analysis of neural encoding during STM maintenance.
- Development and testing of a dynamical attractor model.
Main Results:
- Inactivation-induced performance impairments showed a monotonically decreasing time course, opposite to neural encoding.
- A dynamical attractor model equally incorporating cortical and subcortical regions reconciled the data.
- Model predictions regarding trial difficulty, perturbability, and combined inactivation were confirmed.
Conclusions:
- STM maintenance involves both cortical and subcortical regions.
- The interplay between these regions explains the observed neural encoding and behavioral data.
- Simultaneous inactivation of FOF and superior colliculus during memory maintenance causes substantial, supralinear impairment.
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