Interactions between sensory-biased and supramodal working memory networks in the human cerebral cortex
Thomas Possidente1, Vaibhav Tripathi1,2, Joseph T McGuire1
1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
Communications Biology
|February 9, 2026
Summary
Human working memory relies on interacting brain networks. Auditory tasks dynamically reorganize these networks, unlike visual tasks, showing an asymmetric working memory system.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Brain Imaging
Background:
- Human working memory involves distributed brain networks.
- A supramodal network interacts with content-specific visual and auditory networks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate interactions between supramodal and content-specific working memory networks.
- To contrast network dynamics during visual versus auditory working memory tasks.
Main Methods:
- Functional connectivity analysis using task and resting-state fMRI.
- Examined 24 participants performing visual and auditory working memory tasks.
Main Results:
- At rest, supramodal network connectivity is stronger with visual than auditory networks.
- Auditory tasks dynamically increased auditory network connectivity, while visual tasks showed minimal changes.
- Auditory working memory precision correlated with auditory network connectivity changes.
Conclusions:
- Working memory network organization is asymmetric across sensory modalities.
- Dynamic network reorganization supports working memory task performance, particularly for auditory information.
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