Abstract:Working memory (WM) updating is a controlled process through which relevant information in the environment is selected to enter the gate to WM and substitute its contents. We suggest that there is also an automatic form of updating, which influences performance in many tasks and is primarily manifested in reaction time sequential effects. The goal of the present study was to dissociate WM updating and automatic updating, characterize the nature of these operations and identify the memory system responsible for… Show more
“…Hence, the gate over WM should be closed in these trials. Previous results using this paradigm 50, 51 have demonstrated that (a) performance in reference trials is slower than in comparison trials, supporting the additional updating process required in the former, and (b) switching between the two trial-types is associated with an additional cost, reflecting the time taken to open or close the gate to WM 52, 53 .Figure 1The reference-back task. Trials with a red frame are reference trials, and trials with a blue frame are comparison trials (see main text for details).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 73%
“…Inspired by the PBWM model and our previous results 50, 51 and under the assumption that the ebEBR reflects phasic DA activity, we predicted that WM updating and gate opening would be associated with an increase in the ebEBR. Gate closing would not be accompanied by an increase in the ebEBR because, as implied in the model, gate closing is the default state of the gate and does not require phasic DA.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 92%
“…The aim of the current study was to shed light on the involvement of DA in gating and WM updating by examining task demand-related changes in eye-blink rate during performance in the reference-back task 50, 51 . The reference-back task is a novel paradigm that allows for separation of processes related to WM updating from processes related to gate opening and closing.…”
Effective working memory (WM) functioning depends on the gating process that regulates the balance between maintenance and updating of WM. The present study used the event-based eye-blink rate (ebEBR), which presumably reflects phasic striatal dopamine activity, to examine how the cognitive processes of gating and updating separately facilitate flexible updating of WM contents and the potential involvement of dopamine in these processes. Real-time changes in eye blinks were tracked during performance on the reference-back task, in which demands on these two processes were independently manipulated. In all three experiments, trials that required WM updating and trials that required gate switching were both associated with increased ebEBR. These results may support the prefrontal cortex basal ganglia WM model (PBWM) by linking updating and gating to striatal dopaminergic activity. In Experiment 3, the ebEBR was used to determine what triggers gate switching. We found that switching to an updating mode (gate opening) was more stimulus driven and retroactive than switching to a maintenance mode, which was more context driven. Together, these findings show that the ebEBR – an inexpensive, non-invasive, easy-to-use measure – can be used to track changes in WM demands during task performance and, hence, possibly striatal dopamine activity.
“…Hence, the gate over WM should be closed in these trials. Previous results using this paradigm 50, 51 have demonstrated that (a) performance in reference trials is slower than in comparison trials, supporting the additional updating process required in the former, and (b) switching between the two trial-types is associated with an additional cost, reflecting the time taken to open or close the gate to WM 52, 53 .Figure 1The reference-back task. Trials with a red frame are reference trials, and trials with a blue frame are comparison trials (see main text for details).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 73%
“…Inspired by the PBWM model and our previous results 50, 51 and under the assumption that the ebEBR reflects phasic DA activity, we predicted that WM updating and gate opening would be associated with an increase in the ebEBR. Gate closing would not be accompanied by an increase in the ebEBR because, as implied in the model, gate closing is the default state of the gate and does not require phasic DA.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 92%
“…The aim of the current study was to shed light on the involvement of DA in gating and WM updating by examining task demand-related changes in eye-blink rate during performance in the reference-back task 50, 51 . The reference-back task is a novel paradigm that allows for separation of processes related to WM updating from processes related to gate opening and closing.…”
Effective working memory (WM) functioning depends on the gating process that regulates the balance between maintenance and updating of WM. The present study used the event-based eye-blink rate (ebEBR), which presumably reflects phasic striatal dopamine activity, to examine how the cognitive processes of gating and updating separately facilitate flexible updating of WM contents and the potential involvement of dopamine in these processes. Real-time changes in eye blinks were tracked during performance on the reference-back task, in which demands on these two processes were independently manipulated. In all three experiments, trials that required WM updating and trials that required gate switching were both associated with increased ebEBR. These results may support the prefrontal cortex basal ganglia WM model (PBWM) by linking updating and gating to striatal dopaminergic activity. In Experiment 3, the ebEBR was used to determine what triggers gate switching. We found that switching to an updating mode (gate opening) was more stimulus driven and retroactive than switching to a maintenance mode, which was more context driven. Together, these findings show that the ebEBR – an inexpensive, non-invasive, easy-to-use measure – can be used to track changes in WM demands during task performance and, hence, possibly striatal dopamine activity.
“…The aim of the current study was to shed light on the involvement of DA in gating and WM updating, by examining task demand-related changes in eye-blink rate during performance on the reference back task 50,51 . The reference-back is a novel paradigm which allows separation of processes related to working memory updating from processes related to gate opening and closing.…”
Effective working memory (WM) functioning depends on the gating process that regulates the balance between maintenance and updating of WM. The present study used the event-based eye-blink rate (ebEBR), which presumably reflects phasic striatal dopamine activity, to examine how the cognitive processes of gating and updating separately facilitate flexible updating of WM contents and the potential involvement of dopamine in these processes. Realtime changes in eye blinks were tracked during performance on the reference-back task, in which demands on these two processes were independently manipulated. In all three experiments, trials that required WM updating and trials that required gate switching were both associated with increased ebEBR. These results may support the prefrontal cortex basal ganglia WM model (PBWM) by linking updating and gating to striatal dopaminergic activity.In Experiment 3, the ebEBR was used to determine what triggers gate switching. We found that switching to an updating mode (gate opening) was more stimulus driven and retroactive than switching to a maintenance mode, which was more context driven. Together, these findings show that the ebEBR -an inexpensive, non-invasive, easy-to-use measure -can be used to track changes in WM demands during task performance and, hence, possibly striatal dopamine activity.
“…Although there were no significant changes in neurophysiological measures after controlling for multiple comparisons, we found weak evidence that the intervention increased the P2 ERP amplitude. The P2 component has been linked to attentional processes (Kemp et al, 2006;Lijffijt et al, 2009;Luu et al, 2014;Yuan et al, 2016;Vilà-Balló et al, 2018)), whereas P3 is associated with higher-order cognitive functions such as target identification and categorisation (Friedman et al, 2001;Kok, 2001;Rac-Lubashevsky & Kessler, 2016). McEvoy et al (1998) systematically investigated the impact of working memory load and practice effects, and similarly observed changes in P2, but not P3, amplitude.…”
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a form of non-invasive brain stimulation, is a promising treatment for depression. Recent research suggests that tDCS efficacy can be augmented using concurrent cognitive emotional training (CET). However, the neurophysiological changes associated with this combined intervention remain to be elucidated. We therefore examined the effects of tDCS combined with CET using electroencephalography (EEG). A total of 20 participants with treatment resistant depression took part in this open-label study and received 18 sessions over 6 weeks of tDCS and concurrent CET. Resting-state and task-related EEG during a 3-back working memory task were aquired at baseline and immediately following the treatment course. Results showed an improvement in mood and working memory accuracy, but not response time, following the intervention. We did not find significant effects of the intervention on resting-state power spectral density (frontal theta and alpha asymmetry), time-frequency power (alpha eventrelated desynchronization and theta event-related synchronisation), or event-related potentials (P2 and P3 components). We therefore identified little evidence of neurophysiological changes associated with treatment using tDCS and concurrent CET, despite significant improvements in mood and near transfer effects of cognitive training to working memory accuracy. Further research incorporating a sham controlled group may be necessary to identify the neurophysiological effects of the intervention.
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