Working memory prioritization impacts neural recovery from distraction

Mallett, Remington; Lewis-Peacock, Jarrod A.

doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2019.08.019

Cited by 14 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 100 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In these tasks, participants must retroactively prioritize items that are already in memory based on a cue about which will be probed in an upcoming test. These studies have shown that fidelity of re-prioritized items is improved across a range of manipulations (Christophel et al, 2018; Larocque et al, 2017; Lewis-Peacock et al, 2012; Lorenc et al, 2020; Mallett & Lewis-Peacock, 2019; Sprague et al, 2016; Yu et al, 2020). Reframed in terms of predicted utility, the retrocue indicates which item, when maintained, is most likely to yield a positive outcome on that trial.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicted Utility Modulates Working Memory Fidelity in the Brain

Ej¹,

Ja²,

Fengler

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The predicted utility of information stored in working memory (WM) is hypothesized to influence the strategic allocation of WM resources. Prior work has shown that when information is prioritized, it is remembered with greater precision relative to other remembered items. However, these paradigms often complicate interpretation of the effects of predicted utility on item fidelity due to a concurrent memory load. Likewise, no fMRI studies have examined whether the predicted utility of an item modulates fidelity in the neural representation of items during the memory delay without a concurrent load. In the current study, we used fMRI to investigate whether predicted utility influences fidelity of WM representations in the brain. Using a generative model multivoxel analysis approach to estimate the quality of remembered representations across predicted utility conditions, we observed that items with greater predicted utility are maintained in memory with greater fidelity, even when they are the only item being maintained. Further, we found that this pattern follows a parametric relationship where more predicted utility corresponded to greater fidelity. These precision differences could not be accounted for based on a redistribution of resources among already-remembered items. Rather, we interpret these results in terms of a gating mechanism that allows for pre-allocation of resources based on predicted value alone. This evidence supports a theoretical distinction between resource allocation that occurs as a result of load and resource pre-allocation that occurs as a result of predicted utility.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicted Utility Modulates Working Memory Fidelity in the Brain

Ej¹,

Ja²,

Fengler

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To summarize, although the suppression of the distractors is of importance to VWM, many studies have already proven how the handling of distractors by the VWM is relatively flexible and diverse ( Allon and Luria, 2017 , 2019 ; Makovski, 2019 ; Mallett and Lewis-Peacock, 2019 ; Mallett et al, 2020 ). For example, Allon and Luria (2017) adopted a filtering change-detection task using attention cues to direct irrelevant information and found that attention cues for irrelevant information can help activate filter settings; however, these settings are short-lived.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Attention Direction and Perceptual Distraction Within Visual Working Memory

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although substantial evidence demonstrates that directing attention to specific items is important for improving the performance of visual working memory (VWM), it is still not clear whether the attended items were better protected. The present study, thus, adopted a pre-cueing paradigm to examine the effect of attention direction and perceptual distractor on VWM. The results showed that a valid visual cue improved the individuals’ VWM performances and reduced their reaction time compared to the invalid and neutral cues. However, the VWM performances in the valid and neutral cue conditions were more disrupted by a post-stimuli distractor compared to the invalid cue condition. The findings suggest that although directing attention can improve the VWM performance, it is not efficient in protecting information from being distracted.

show abstract

“…This is exemplified by the dynamic, involuntary interplay between working memory and attentional guidance: Holding a feature in working memory can involuntarily guide attention toward matching information in the environment, perhaps via a shared, spatially organized priority map in early visual cortex. However, sensory recruitment in this context is, perhaps, a double-edged sword: Sensory-format representations are needed to make comparisons with stimuli in the world, but these sensory representations are also more susceptible to distortion by competing visual inputs (e.g., Mallett & Lewis-Peacock, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for, and challenges to, sensory recruitment models of visual working memory

Kcs¹,

Rl²,

Serences³

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Visual working memory refers to the ability to temporarily hold information in mind in the service of behavior. Often, it is not sufficient to hold an abstract idea in mind to achieve our goals. Rather, we must maintain vivid sensory details. For example, when buying a spool of thread to repair a much-loved shirt, holding an abstract category in mind is not sufficient to buy the correct color (e.g. ‘blue’)—instead, you need a precise visual memory of the color (e.g., a particular gray-ish shade of blue). One proposal for how we maintain vivid, detailed information in mind is the sensory recruitment hypothesis. Sensory recruitment proposes that neural circuits already specialized for encoding sensory details during perception are likewise recruited to help maintain this information in working memory. In this review, we recount evidence that is consistent with a key role for early visual cortex in supporting visual working memory, we discuss key debates about the role of early sensory activity in supporting memory maintenance, and we outline a framework in which sensory codes are one part of a flexible, multi-level working memory representation.

show abstract

Working memory prioritization impacts neural recovery from distraction

Cited by 14 publications

References 100 publications

Predicted Utility Modulates Working Memory Fidelity in the Brain

Predicted Utility Modulates Working Memory Fidelity in the Brain

Effects of Attention Direction and Perceptual Distraction Within Visual Working Memory

Evidence for, and challenges to, sensory recruitment models of visual working memory

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About