Modulating perceptual complexity and load reveals degradation of the visual working memory network in ageing

Wijeakumar, Sobanawartiny; Magnotta, Vincent A.; Spencer, John P.

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.06.019

Cited by 19 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…(2014) where we found a decrease in right parietal activation at the highest set sizes as 3 and 4-year-olds completed a change detection task. Interestingly, we found a similar decrease in activation at high memory loads in aging adults as well ( Wijeakumar et al., 2017b ). Considered together, these data suggest that the plateau in parietal activation at supra-capacity set sizes is a developmental achievement that emerges sometime during childhood.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

“…Note that these approaches have been validated previously by simultaneously recording fNIRS with other imaging modalities (e.g., fMRI; see Wijeakumar et al., 2017a ; Huppert et al., 2017 ). The methods for our image reconstruction approach have been discussed in previous work ( Putt et al., 2017 ; Wijeakumar et al., 2017a , Wijeakumar et al., 2017b ; see also Jackson et al., 2019 ; Putt et al., 2019 ; Wijeakumar et al., 2019 ; Wijeakumar et al., 2017a , Wijeakumar et al., 2017b ). Briefly, after accommodating for the forward model and beta coefficients from the GLM (see above), the relationship between the hemodynamic response and delta optical density is given by:

where, F is the channel-wise sensitivity volumes from the Monte Carlo simulations.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The functional brain networks that underlie visual working memory in the first two years of life

et al. 2020

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Visual working memory (VWM) is a central cognitive system used to compare views of the world and detect changes in the local environment. This system undergoes dramatic development in the first two years; however, we know relatively little about the functional organization of VWM at the level of the brain. Here, we used image-based functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to test four hypotheses about the spatial organization of the VWM network in early development. Four-month-olds, 1-year-olds, and 2-year-olds completed a VWM task while we recorded neural activity from 19 cortical regions-of-interest identified from a meta-analysis of the adult fMRI literature on VWM. Results showed significant task-specific functional activation near 6 of 19 ROIs, revealing spatial consistency in the brain regions activated in our study and brain regions identified to be part of the VWM network in adult fMRI studies. Working memory related activation was centered on bilateral anterior intraparietal sulcus (aIPS), left temporoparietal junction (TPJ), and left ventral occipital complex (VOC), while visual exploratory measures were associated with activation in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left TPJ, and bilateral IPS. Results show that a distributed brain network underlies functional changes in VWM in infancy, revealing new insights into the neural mechanisms that support infants’ improved ability to remember visual information and to detect changes in an on-going visual stream.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

where, F is the channel-wise sensitivity volumes from the Monte Carlo simulations.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The functional brain networks that underlie visual working memory in the first two years of life

et al. 2020

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“…Of these, the rIFG/DLPFC cluster also overlapped with a cluster from the Midwestern US sample that showed the same negative relationship with CP scores (shown in Figure c). In VWM tasks, the frontal cortex is thought to regulate parietal and temporal cortices to drive attention to and maintain stimulus representations (Edin et al, ; Wijeakumar, Magnotta et al, ; Zanto, Rubens, Thangavel, & Gazzaley, ). The frontal cortex also plays a role in suppressing distracting information (Cosman, Lowe, Zinke, Woodman, & Schall, ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The methods for image reconstruction have been discussed in previous work (Putt, Wijeakumar, Franciscus, & Spencer, ; Wijeakumar, Huppert et al, ; Wijeakumar, Magnotta, & Spencer, ). Briefly, after accommodating for the forward model and beta coefficients (obtained from section 2.4.2), the relationship between the haemodynamic response and delta optical density is given by:

[\begin{matrix} d . ε_{HbO}^{λ 1} . β_{HbO} + d . ε_{HbR}^{λ 1} . β_{HbR} \\ d . ε_{HbO}^{λ 2} . β_{HbO} + d . ε_{HbR}^{λ 2} . β_{HbR} \end{matrix}] = [\begin{matrix} ε_{HbO}^{λ 1} . F^{λ 1} & ε_{HbR}^{λ 1} . F^{λ 1} \\ ε_{HbO}^{λ 2} . F^{λ 2} & ε_{HbR}^{λ 2} . F^{λ 2} \end{matrix}] . [\begin{matrix} Δ Hb O_{vox} \\ normalΔ Hb R_{vox} \end{matrix}]

where, d is source‐detector distance, F is the channel‐wise sensitivity volumes from the Monte Carlo simulations.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early adversity in rural India impacts the brain networks underlying visual working memory

Wijeakumar

Kumar²,

Reyes

et al. 2019

Developmental Science

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There is a growing need to understand the global impact of poverty on early brain and behavioural development, particularly with regard to key cognitive processes that emerge in early development. Although the impact of adversity on brain development can trap children in an intergenerational cycle of poverty, the massive potential for brain plasticity is also a source of hope: reliable, accessible, culturally agnostic methods to assess early brain development in low resource settings might be used to measure the impact of early adversity, identify infants for timely intervention and guide the development and monitor the effectiveness of early interventions. Visual working memory (VWM) is an early marker of cognitive capacity that has been assessed reliably in early infancy and is predictive of later academic achievement in Western countries. Here, we localized the functional brain networks that underlie VWM in early development in rural India using a portable neuroimaging system, and we assessed the impact of adversity on these brain networks. We recorded functional brain activity as young children aged 4–48 months performed a VWM task. Brain imaging results revealed localized activation in the frontal cortex, replicating findings from a Midwestern US sample. Critically, children from families with low maternal education and income showed weaker brain activity and poorer distractor suppression in canonical working memory areas in the left frontal cortex. Implications of this work are far‐reaching: it is now cost‐effective to localize functional brain networks in early development in low‐resource settings, paving the way for novel intervention and assessment methods.

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“…However, this limitation is less pronounced in children due to their smaller brains and thinner skulls (Buss et al, 2014). fNIRS has also been reliably used across the lifespan to study changes in activation in the frontal and parietal networks underlying VWM (Buss et al, 2014;Sato et al, 2013;Wijeakumar et al, 2019Wijeakumar et al, , 2017aWijeakumar et al, , 2017b. HOME ASSESSMENT OF VISUAL WORKING MEMORY Using fNIRS, Tsujimoto and colleagues (2004) examined VWM performance on a CD task in a sample of adults and five-year-old children.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Home assessment of visual working memory in pre-schoolers reveals associations between behaviour, brain activation and environmental measures.

Wijeakumar¹,

Rafetseder²,

Shing³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Visual working memory (VWM) is reliably predictive of fluid intelligence and academic achievements. The objective of the current study was to investigate the nature of individual differences in pre-schoolers by examining the relationship between behaviour-brain function underlying VWM processing and parent-reported measures. We used a portable 8 x 8 channel functional near-infrared spectroscopy system to record from the frontal and parietal cortices of 4.5-year-old pre-school children (N=74) as they completed a colour change detection VWM task in their homes. Parents were asked to fill in questionnaires on temperament, academic aspirations, home environment, and life stress. Children were median-split into a low-performing (LP) and a high-performing (HP) group based on the number of items they could successfully remember during the task. LPs increasingly activated the bilateral frontal and parietal cortices with increasing load, whereas HPs showed no difference in activation across the loads. Our findings suggested that LPs recruited more neural resources when their VWM capacity was challenged. We employed mediation analyses to examine the association between the difference in activation between the highest and lowest loads, and variables from the questionnaires. The difference in activation in the right parietal cortex partially mediated the association between parent-reported stressful life events and VWM performance. Specifically, a higher number of stressful events was associated with lower VWM performance. Critically, our findings show that the association between VWM capacity, right parietal activation, and indicators of life stress is important to understand the nature of individual differences in VWM in pre-school children.

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Modulating perceptual complexity and load reveals degradation of the visual working memory network in ageing

Cited by 19 publications

References 72 publications

The functional brain networks that underlie visual working memory in the first two years of life

The functional brain networks that underlie visual working memory in the first two years of life

Early adversity in rural India impacts the brain networks underlying visual working memory

Home assessment of visual working memory in pre-schoolers reveals associations between behaviour, brain activation and environmental measures.

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