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Predicted utility modulates working memory fidelity in the brain.

Emily J Levin1, James A Brissenden2, Alexander Fengler3

  • 1Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, USA; University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, USA.

Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior
|February 25, 2023
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Summary

Predicted utility enhances working memory (WM) precision. Information with higher predicted value is maintained with greater fidelity in brain representations, even without concurrent memory load.

Keywords:
FidelityGatingPredicted utilityWorking memoryfMRI

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Neuroimaging

Background:

  • Working memory (WM) resource allocation is influenced by predicted information utility.
  • Prior studies show prioritization enhances memory precision but often involve concurrent memory load, complicating interpretations.
  • No fMRI studies have investigated predicted utility's effect on neural representation fidelity during WM delay without concurrent load.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if predicted utility modulates the fidelity of neural representations in working memory using fMRI.
  • To examine the effect of predicted utility on memory representation quality in the absence of concurrent memory load.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed.
  • A generative model multivoxel analysis approach was used to estimate the quality of remembered representations.
  • Participants' working memory representations were analyzed across different predicted utility conditions.

Main Results:

  • Items with higher predicted utility were maintained in memory with greater fidelity.
  • This parametric relationship between predicted utility and fidelity was observed even when items were the sole item being maintained.
  • Precision differences were not explained by resource redistribution among items.

Conclusions:

  • Predicted utility directly influences the fidelity of working memory representations.
  • Findings suggest a gating mechanism for pre-allocating resources based on predicted value, distinct from load-induced allocation.
  • This supports a theoretical distinction between resource allocation driven by load versus predicted utility.