Oscillatory activity in bilateral prefrontal cortices is altered by distractor strength during working memory...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Neuroimaging
• Human Brain Activity

Background:

• Working memory (WM) is vital for higher cognitive functions, but susceptible to interference from distractors.
• Effective suppression of irrelevant stimuli is key to maintaining WM performance.
• Neural mechanisms of distractor inhibition in WM are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural dynamics underlying distractor inhibition during working memory maintenance.
• To identify specific brain oscillatory responses associated with suppressing irrelevant information.

Main Methods:

• 46 healthy adults performed a Sternberg WM task under high- and low-distractor conditions.
• Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to record brain activity.
• Time-frequency analysis and whole-brain statistical comparisons identified significant oscillatory differences.

Main Results:

• Increased theta power and decreased alpha and beta power were observed during WM task periods.
• Significantly stronger alpha and beta oscillations were found in bilateral prefrontal regions during high-distractor trials.
• Specific prefrontal areas (dlPFC, IFG, aPFC, MFG) showed enhanced oscillatory activity related to distractor inhibition.

Conclusions:

• Alpha and beta oscillations in the prefrontal cortex are critical for inhibiting distracting information during WM maintenance.
• Findings support the role of prefrontal regions in cognitive control and functional inhibition.
• This research advances understanding of the neural basis of selective attention within working memory.