Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Working Memory01:24

Working Memory

789
Working memory refers to a combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow an individual to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks. It is an essential cognitive function that enables the execution of complex tasks such as problem-solving, comprehension, and reasoning. Unlike short-term memory, which simply involves the storage of information for a brief period, working memory involves the active manipulation and processing of this...
789
Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory01:26

Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory

1.9K
Memory is one of the most vital higher mental functions of the brain. Memory is closely related to learning because it enables us to retain information and experiences from our past to use them in our present life. It also helps us to remember facts, events, and skills, such as riding a bike or swimming. There are two types of memory — declarative memory, which involves memorizing facts or events, and procedural memory, which enables us to remember how to do something like writing or...
1.9K
Storage01:23

Storage

354
A schema is a mental framework that helps individuals organize and interpret information. Schemata, formed from previous experiences, influence how we process new information: how we encode it, the inferences we make, and how we retrieve it. For instance, a schema for what a typical classroom looks like might include desks, a teacher's desk, a whiteboard, and students in such an environment. This expectation helps us quickly understand and navigate new classrooms without needing to analyze...
354
Long-Term Memory01:18

Long-Term Memory

632
Long-term memory is a relatively permanent type of memory, capable of storing vast amounts of information over extended periods. Its storage capacity is generally considered unlimited.
Long-term memory can be categorized into two primary types: explicit and implicit memory. Explicit memory, also known as declarative memory, involves the conscious recollection of information that we deliberately try to remember, recall, and articulate. This type of memory encompasses specific facts, events, and...
632
System of Memory01:23

System of Memory

7.2K
Memory is categorized into three major systems: sensory memory, short-term memory (STM), and long-term memory (LTM). These systems differ in their capacity and the duration for which they can hold information. Sensory memory captures raw sensory input from the environment, holding it for just a few seconds or less. For example, on hearing a brief, loud sound, like a car horn honking, the sound seems to linger in the mind for a moment even after it stops. This is an instance of sensory memory...
7.2K
Role of Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex in Memory01:14

Role of Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex in Memory

1.0K
The cerebellum, while traditionally associated with motor control, also plays a crucial role in memory, particularly in procedural memory, which involves learning motor tasks that become automatic through repetition. For example, studies have shown that when the cerebellum is damaged, individuals or animals lose the ability to learn conditioned motor responses, such as the conditioned eye-blink response in classical conditioning experiments with rabbits. This study demonstrates the...
1.0K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Selective removal of visual working memory items at test.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)·2026
Same author

Selective removal of visual working memory items at test.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Past and present goals are represented concurrently during visual search.

PLoS biology·2026
Same author

Content-Independent Pointers Mediate Working Memory Storage for Both Visual and Verbal Stimuli.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2026
Same author

Working Memory Guides Perceptual Decisions Through Fast Capture and Slow Drift.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same author

Population-Level Activity Dissociates Preparatory Overt from Covert Attention.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2025
Same journal

Erratum: Yao et al., "Estrogen Regulates Bcl-w and Bim Expression: Role in Protection against β-Amyloid Peptide-Induced Neuronal Death".

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Erratum: L'Episcopo et al., "Plasticity of Subventricular Zone Neuroprogenitors in MPTP (1-Methyl-4-Phenyl-1,2,3,6-Tetrahydropyridine) Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease Involves Cross Talk between Inflammatory and Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathways: Functional Consequences for Neuroprotection and Repair".

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Representations of subsecond duration-based timing by complex spike synchrony in cerebellar Purkinje neurons.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

The extended language network: Language-responsive brain areas whose contributions to language remain to be discovered.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Cortical and thalamic afferent connectomes distinguish ACC subregions of the macaque brain.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

The synaptic vesicle priming protein Munc13 mediates evoked somatodendritic dopamine release.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 13, 2026

Methods for Presenting Real-world Objects Under Controlled Laboratory Conditions
06:54

Methods for Presenting Real-world Objects Under Controlled Laboratory Conditions

Published on: June 21, 2019

6.3K

Contributions from Long-Term Memory Explain Superior Visual Working Memory Performance with Meaningful Objects.

Hyung-Bum Park1,2,3, Edward Awh4,2

  • 1Institute for Mind and Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637 moonphb@gmail.com.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|January 9, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Meaningful objects do not expand working memory (WM) capacity. When proactive interference is controlled, the memory advantage for objects disappears, indicating that WM limits are similar for simple and meaningful stimuli.

Keywords:
contralateral delay activitylong-term memorymeaningful objectsproactive interferenceworking memory capacity

More Related Videos

The Spatial Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition
05:15

The Spatial Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

Published on: February 19, 2018

11.3K
Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion
15:57

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion

Published on: May 4, 2011

17.2K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 13, 2026

Methods for Presenting Real-world Objects Under Controlled Laboratory Conditions
06:54

Methods for Presenting Real-world Objects Under Controlled Laboratory Conditions

Published on: June 21, 2019

6.3K
The Spatial Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition
05:15

The Spatial Memory Game: Testing the Relationship Between Spatial Language, Object Knowledge, and Spatial Cognition

Published on: February 19, 2018

11.3K
Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion
15:57

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion

Published on: May 4, 2011

17.2K

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Psychology
  • Memory Research

Background:

  • Previous research suggested meaningful objects enhance working memory (WM) capacity due to richer semantic representations.
  • However, these studies often confounded meaningfulness with proactive interference (PI), potentially inflating performance for meaningful items.
  • This raises questions about whether WM capacity is truly expandable or if other memory processes are involved.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether meaningful objects genuinely increase WM capacity or if the perceived advantage stems from reduced PI and enhanced long-term memory (LTM) contributions.
  • To differentiate between familiarity and recollection contributions to memory performance for meaningful versus simple stimuli.
  • To assess neural markers of WM storage to determine if capacity differs between stimulus types.

Main Methods:

  • Experiment 1: Behavioral WM tasks comparing repeated colors, repeated meaningful objects, and trial-unique meaningful objects, with PI equated across conditions.
  • Experiment 1 Analysis: Hierarchical Bayesian dual-process modeling to assess familiarity and recollection.
  • Experiment 2: Electrophysiological recording using contralateral delay activity (CDA) to measure WM storage during tasks with varying set sizes for trial-unique meaningful objects and repeated colors.

Main Results:

  • Experiment 1: The behavioral advantage for meaningful objects over colors was eliminated when PI was equated, suggesting the effect is not due to increased WM capacity.
  • Experiment 1 Modeling: The advantage was linked to stronger familiarity signals, while recollection remained stable across stimulus types.
  • Experiment 2 CDA: No evidence for increased WM storage; CDA slopes and plateaus were similar for meaningful objects and colors, with additive differences between stimulus types.

Conclusions:

  • The apparent advantage of meaningful objects in WM tasks is primarily due to reduced PI and enhanced LTM contributions (familiarity), not an expansion of WM storage capacity.
  • When PI is controlled, WM storage limits are equivalent for simple features and meaningful objects.
  • Future research and theories of memory limits should account for PI and LTM interactions in WM paradigms.