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Thalamocortical contributions to working memory processes during the n-back task.

Xitong Chen¹, Evan Sorenson¹, Kai Hwang¹

¹Cognitive Control Collaborative, The University of Iowa, 340 Iowa Ave, Iowa City, IA 52242-1407, United States; Department of Psychological and Brain Science, The University of Iowa, 340 Iowa Ave, Iowa City, IA 52242-1407, United States; Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, 169 Newton Road, 2312, Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States.

Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

|November 26, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The human thalamus, particularly its anterior and medial nuclei, plays a key role in working memory by processing information load. Thalamocortical interactions help modulate brain activity during these cognitive tasks.

Keywords:

Evoked response Functional connectivity Thalamocortical interaction Thalamus Working memory

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

Working memory relies on frontoparietal networks, but subcortical contributions, especially from the thalamus, remain underexplored.
The thalamus's intricate structure and connectivity suggest a significant, yet not fully understood, role in working memory.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the functional neuroanatomy of the human thalamus during working memory tasks.
To characterize thalamocortical interactions and their role in working memory-related cortical activity.

Main Methods:

Analysis of a large-scale fMRI dataset (395 subjects) from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) using the n-back task.
Functional neuroimaging analysis to identify task-related activity within thalamic nuclei.
Activity flow mapping to model thalamocortical interactions and predict cortical activity.

Main Results:

Specific thalamic nuclei (anterior, medial, ventrolateral, posteromedial) showed increased activity with higher working memory load.
Thalamic activity was modulated by working memory load, indicating domain-general processing, rather than stimulus category.
Thalamocortical interaction models significantly predicted cortical activity patterns associated with working memory load.

Conclusions:

The anterior, medial, and posteromedial thalamus are crucial for working memory.
Thalamocortical interactions contribute to the modulation of widespread cortical activity during working memory.
The thalamus supports domain-general working memory functions through its interactions with cortical regions.