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Are visual working memory and episodic memory distinct processes? Insight from stroke patients by lesion-symptom
Selma Lugtmeijer1,2, Linda Geerligs1, Frank Erik de Leeuw3
1Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Brain Structure & Function
|April 29, 2021
Summary
Working memory and episodic memory may use separate brain regions, though some overlap exists. Lesion mapping in stroke patients revealed distinct neural correlates for each memory type.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neurology
Background:
- Working memory and episodic memory are distinct cognitive processes.
- Their precise relationship and neural underpinnings are not fully understood.
- Previous research often studies these memory systems in isolation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural substrates of working memory and episodic memory.
- To determine if these memory systems rely on independent or shared brain regions.
- To examine the relationship between visual working memory and subsequent episodic memory encoding.
Main Methods:
- Utilized lesion-symptom mapping (LSM) analyses in 81 adults with sub-acute ischemic stroke.
- Assessed participants on a visual working memory task followed by a surprise memory test.
- Employed multivariate, atlas-based, and track-based LSM to identify lesion-behavior relationships.
Main Results:
- Behavioral data showed moderate evidence for independence in discriminability between working memory and subsequent memory, but a strong correlation in response bias.
- Lesion analyses indicated distinct anatomical correlates for working memory and episodic memory.
- Lesions in the right arcuate fasciculus were linked to working memory discriminability, while right frontal operculum lesions correlated with episodic memory criterion setting.
Conclusions:
- Findings suggest that certain processes within working memory and episodic memory rely on separate neural mechanisms.
- Acknowledges the possibility of shared neural processes contributing to both memory systems.
- Highlights the utility of lesion mapping in dissociating cognitive functions.
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