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Distinct contributions by frontal and parietal cortices support working memory
Wayne E Mackey1, Clayton E Curtis2,3
1Department of Psychology, New York University, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
Scientific Reports
|July 23, 2017
Summary
Frontal and parietal cortex support working memory (WM). Perturbations reveal parietal cortex codes sensory information, while frontal cortex codes for future actions, clarifying their distinct roles in cognitive tasks.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neurobiology
- Human Brain Imaging
Background:
- Frontal and parietal cortex are crucial for working memory (WM).
- The precise, distinct roles of these regions in WM remain unclear.
- Understanding these roles is key to deciphering cognitive functions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the specific contributions of frontal and parietal cortex to working memory.
- To differentiate the coding mechanisms employed by these brain regions during WM maintenance.
Main Methods:
- Utilized brain stimulation techniques to perturb activity in topographically organized frontal and parietal cortex.
- Assessed the impact of these perturbations on working memory performance and information representation.
Main Results:
- Disruptions in frontal cortex led to specific WM distortions related to prospective action coding.
- Perturbations in parietal cortex resulted in distinct WM distortions linked to retrospective sensory information.
- These findings highlight spatially organized, distinct functional roles within these cortical areas.
Conclusions:
- Parietal cortex primarily represents retrospective sensory information in working memory.
- Frontal cortex is predominantly involved in coding prospective action information.
- This research clarifies the functional segregation within the human brain supporting working memory.
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