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Fixed and flexible: Dynamic prefrontal activations and working memory capacity relationships vary with memory demand
Ashti M Shah1,2, Hannah Grotzinger1, Jakub R Kaczmarzyk1
1McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA.
Individuals with higher working memory (WM) capacity use proactive prefrontal cortex (PFC) patterns when overloaded. Lower WM capacity individuals use these patterns when demands are low, showing flexible PFC engagement.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
- Human Brain Function
Background:
- Prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation during memory encoding (proactive) correlates with better working memory (WM) than retrieval-based activation.
- Existing theories propose fixed PFC activation patterns based on individual WM ability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if dynamic PFC activation patterns change with varying WM demands.
- To test the hypothesis that WM capacity influences PFC engagement strategies under cognitive load.
Main Methods:
- Utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during a modified Sternberg WM task.
- Analyzed the relationship between dynamic PFC activation and WM capacity under different WM load conditions.
Main Results:
- Higher WM capacity individuals showed proactive PFC patterns when WM was overloaded.
- Lower WM capacity individuals exhibited proactive PFC patterns only during low WM demand.
- Findings challenge the notion of fixed PFC activation patterns.
Conclusions:
- WM capacity and PFC engagement are not rigidly fixed but flexibly adapt to cognitive demands.
- Individuals with differing WM capacities employ distinct, demand-dependent PFC strategies.
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