Influence of goals on modular brain network organization during working memory

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Neuroimaging
• Network Science

Background:

• Top-down control is crucial for attention and working memory (WM), modulating sensory processing and brain network organization.
• While brain network reconfiguration under WM load is known, how networks adapt between processing relevant and irrelevant information for WM remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how task goals influence brain network organization during WM tasks with varying interference.
• To quantify changes in network modularity based on WM task difficulty and trial-level goals (relevant vs. irrelevant stimuli).

Main Methods:

• Participants performed a working memory task (0-back, 1-back) with varying visual interference.
• Network modularity, a measure of sub-network segregation, was analyzed in relation to task demands and stimulus relevance.
• Changes in modularity were examined across default mode and visual sub-networks.

Main Results:

• Whole-brain modularity decreased with increased WM task difficulty.
• Brain modularity was selectively lower for task-relevant stimuli compared to irrelevant stimuli during WM tasks.
• Reduced modularity for relevant stimuli was most prominent in default mode and visual networks.
• Lower modularity during relevant trials was associated with faster WM task performance.

Conclusions:

• Brain networks dynamically reconfigure to a more integrated state to support goal-directed processing of relevant information in WM.
• This dynamic integration facilitates efficient information prioritization and guides working memory performance.