Attentional Demands Predict Short-Term Memory Load Response in Posterior Parietal Cortex

Autor/inn/en	Magen, Hagit; Emmanouil, Tatiana-Aloi; McMains, Stephanie A.; Kastner, Sabine; Treisman, Anne
Titel	Attentional Demands Predict Short-Term Memory Load Response in Posterior Parietal Cortex
Quelle	In: Neuropsychologia, 47 (2009) 8-9, S.1790-1798 (9 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0028-3932
DOI	10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.02.015
Schlagwörter	Short Term Memory; Brain; Attention; Prediction; Diagnostic Tests; Brain Hemisphere Functions; Correlation + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Kurzzeitgedächtnis; Gehirn; Aufmerksamkeit; Vorhersage; Diagnostic test; Diagnostischer Test; Korrelation
Abstract	Limits to the capacity of visual short-term memory (VSTM) indicate a maximum storage of only 3 or 4 items. Recently, it has been suggested that activity in a specific part of the brain, the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), is correlated with behavioral estimates of VSTM capacity and might reflect a capacity-limited store. In three experiments that varied the delay period and the stimuli to be stored, we found dissociations between functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activity in PPC and behavioral measures of capacity. When the delay length increased, fMRI activity in this area increased with memory load beyond the behaviorally determined limits of capacity. The results suggest that activity in PPC may reflect the attentional demands of short-term memory rehearsal processes rather than capacity limitations, and imply that a larger number of items than that determined by behavioral measures of capacity may be rehearsed during STM tasks. This account is consistent with the role of PPC in attentional processes and with the close correlation between brain areas that are involved in attention and those that mediate STM. (Contains 4 figures.) (As Provided).
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Update	2017/4/10