Article
Neurosciences
Edward F. Ester, Paige Pytel
Summary: Assigning different levels of priority to working memory (WM) content influences the quality and speed of neural representations, but not the accuracy of decoding.
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Ulrich Pomper, Ulrich Ansorge
Summary: The study found that representations in working memory fluctuated rhythmically at 6 Hz, corresponding to neural oscillations in the theta band. Additionally, the findings suggest that two concurrently held representations may be prioritized in alternation.
PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
David W. Sutterer, Sean M. Polyn, Geoffrey F. Woodman
Summary: Recent studies have shown that alpha-band activity can track the two-dimensional coordinates of remembered stimuli, indicating that it reflects a spotlight of attention focused on locations maintained in working memory.
JOURNAL OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Psychology
Marissa Ortiz Calleja, Adrian R. R. Willoughby
Summary: Previous studies have shown that semantically related distractors can impact visual search. In two experiments, we investigate if distractors matching or being semantically related to search-irrelevant information in working memory can also influence visual search, while ruling out the effects of color similarity.
ATTENTION PERCEPTION & PSYCHOPHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Petra Hermann, Bela Weiss, Balazs Knakker, Petra Madurka, Annamaria Manga, Adam Narai, Zoltan Vidnyanszky
Summary: The study identified two top-down attentional control processes that have opposing effects on distractor resistance. An early selection negativity was found in EEG responses to matching distractors, and congruency effects were positively associated with distractor resistance.
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Gaoxing Mei, Mofen Cen, Xu Luo, Shiming Qiu, Yun Pan
Summary: Previous studies have shown that high-level cognitive functions such as attention can modulate the tilt aftereffect (TAE), but it is unclear whether working memory load has an effect on TAE. Two experiments were conducted, with one showing a reduction in TAE magnitude under high working memory load when digits were used as load stimuli, while the other experiment did not replicate this finding when color-shape conjunctions were used as load stimuli. Further replications are needed to clarify the effects of working memory load on TAE.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Tobias Feldmann-Wustefeld, Marina Weinberger, Edward Awh
Summary: Research has shown that active suppression of salient distractors is a crucial aspect of visual selection. The study provides clear evidence for a spatial gradient of suppression surrounding salient singleton distractors, with target selection improving as the distance between target and distractor increases.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
R. Douglas Fields
Summary: Working memory is still a subject of debate in terms of its cellular mechanisms; Barbosa and colleagues' study challenges the idea proposed by Wolff and colleagues by suggesting that working memory is encoded by sustained action potential firing; while some studies indicate that unconscious working memories can be recalled even without measurable neural activity.
Review
Psychology, Mathematical
Stanislas Huynh Cong, Dirk Kerzel
Summary: Recently, working memory has been seen as a limited resource distributed flexibly between different representations, affecting their role as attentional templates in guiding visual search. Allocating resources to an attentional template can improve visual search, but simply assigning the most resources to a representation in WM is not enough to make it an attentional template. The representation obtaining attentional template status in WM receives resources proportional to its relevance for visual search.
PSYCHONOMIC BULLETIN & REVIEW
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Xiaowei Che, Yuanjie Zheng, Xin Chen, Sutao Song, Shouxin Li
Summary: Color plays a crucial role in object recognition and visual working memory (VWM). Recent studies have demonstrated the possibility of decoding color information from scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) signals during different stages of VWM, and the decoding accuracy during the maintaining stage can predict participants' memory performance.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NEURAL SYSTEMS
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Gi-Yeul Bae
Summary: The study showed that visual representations in working memory are influenced by the categorical structure of the stimulus space. Analysis of EEG data revealed that biases in working memory representations exist prior to the report, rather than arising during decision or response processes. Follow-up experiments further confirmed these findings.
Article
Neurosciences
Ya-Ting Chen, Freek van Ede, Bo-Cheng Kuo
Summary: This study investigates the neural basis of working memory capacity by exploiting the content dependence of memory materials. The results show that alpha oscillations track memory capacity in a content-specific manner, dependent not only on the number of items but also on their complexity.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Bianca Zickerick, Marlene Rosner, Melinda Sabo, Daniel Schneider
Summary: Interruptions can lead to a decline in primary task performance, especially with high-demanding tasks. Changes in fronto-central theta power and posterior alpha power in the brain post-interruption may be related to deficits in attentional control processes. The suppression of posterior alpha power contralateral to the primary task stimuli during interruptions is introduced as a temporal marker for primary task resumption, particularly evident in cognitively demanding interruption tasks.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Stefanie Klatt, Nicholas J. Smeeton
Summary: The study found that working memory capacity plays an important role in selective visual attention, with individuals having higher capacity performing better in the task. Additionally, visual stimuli located along the same meridian were perceived more accurately compared to stimuli located along different meridians.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Maria Quiros-Godoy, Beatriz Gil-Gomez de Liano, Elena Perez-Hernandez
Summary: This study aimed to investigate how a concurrent visual working memory (VWM) load can affect visual search (VS) tasks, and explored the impact of cognitive strategies related to individual differences and age. The results revealed that even the youngest children were able to efficiently perform VS tasks under high VWM load conditions. Positive correlations were found between VS efficiency and IQ and VWM span measures. The proportion of participants using tracking organization strategies increased with age, but significant increase in cognitive strategies for remembering targets was only observed under low VWM load conditions.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Wouter Kruijne, Sander M. Bohte, Pieter R. Roelfsema, Christian N. L. Olivers
Summary: Working memory is crucial for guiding intelligent behavior in humans and nonhuman primates when relevant stimuli are absent. A neural network model called WorkMATe is introduced to simulate cognitive control over working memory content and learn the necessary operations for solving complex tasks. The model successfully acquires strategies for classical and more intricate tasks, demonstrating its potential for flexible memory control.
NEURAL COMPUTATION
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Katya Olmos-Solis, Anouk M. van Loon, Christian N. L. Olivers
Summary: The study showed a division of labor across brain regions during working memory tasks, with posterior areas preferentially coding for content and frontal areas carrying information about the relevance status regardless of the category. The findings provide further evidence for a dissociation between content and control networks in working memory.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Joram van Driel, Christian N. L. Olivers, Johannes J. Fahrenfort
Summary: This study compared the effects of high-pass filtering, standard robust detrending, and trial-masked robust detrending on real and simulated EEG data of a working memory experiment. Results showed that trial-masked robust detrending prevents multivariate pattern displacement into silent periods without introducing artifacts, in contrast to high-pass filtering and standard robust detrending.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE METHODS
(2021)
Article
Ophthalmology
Elle van Heusden, Mieke Donk, Christian N. L. Olivers
Summary: The study found that eccentricity had little effect on overall selection performance, but in far eccentricity conditions, saliency effects became protracted and relevance effects became delayed.
Article
Neurosciences
Wouter Kruijne, Christian N. L. Olivers, Hedderik van Rijn
Summary: Various theories have been proposed to explain how the human brain perceives and processes temporal information. This study found that while temporal information is closely related to spatial information during perception, it becomes independent of spatial information when used for comparison.
JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Wouter Kruijne, Christian N. L. Olivers, Hedderik van Rijn
Summary: Human time perception is influenced by various biases, such as changes in arousal levels and sensory response magnitude affecting individuals' perception of time duration. The study demonstrates that changes in sensory response magnitude can impact time perception even when arousal levels remain constant. This suggests a complex interplay between sensory processing and temporal perception in the human brain.
JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Benchi Wang, Tomas Knapen, Christian N. L. Olivers
Summary: This study reveals the flexibility of visual working memory, which strengthens the encoding of memory features based on the anticipated level of interference. The findings are further supported by brain imaging data.
JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Mathematical
Elle van Heusden, Wieske van Zoest, Mieke Donk, Christian N. L. Olivers
Summary: Human vision involves the competition between saliency-driven and relevance-driven signals in directing eye movements. However, this study found that saliency-driven eye movements occur more rapidly after display onset, while relevance-driven eye movements occur later. The study also revealed that visual selection is not solely determined by the competition between saliency and relevance, but rather reflects the dynamic changes in these processes.
PSYCHONOMIC BULLETIN & REVIEW
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Fenne D. Roefs, Martin Hoogslag, Christian N. L. Olivers
Summary: Beach safety flags are an internationally recognized warning system, but little is known about people's familiarity with them. A study in the Netherlands found that there is a poor understanding of most beach warning flags, except for the red flag indicating high hazard. Surprisingly, the yellow flag, meant to discourage bathing, was often associated with safety and led to intentions of entering the water. Experience with danger in the sea did not improve knowledge of the flag system, but reduced the intention to enter the water.
Article
Neurosciences
Joshua Snell, Tom van Kempen, Christian N. L. Olivers
Summary: Central vision loss severely impacts the reading ability of patients with macular degeneration. A novel method of presenting words word-by-word with multiple repetitions around the fovea can improve reading performance.
Article
Psychology, Experimental
Caterina Trentin, Heleen A. Slagter, Christian N. L. Olivers
Summary: Attention is an emergent property that links sensory representations to action plans. Recent research suggests that similar mechanisms might operate within visual working memory (VWM), where linking a VWM object to an action plan strengthens its sensory memory representation and results in attentional biases. This study directly tested this hypothesis by comparing attentional biases induced by VWM representations that were the target of a future action, to those induced by VWM representations that were equally task-relevant but not the direct target of action. The results support the idea that action plans prioritize sensory representations in VWM.
Article
Psychology
Elle van Heusden, Christian N. L. Olivers, Mieke Donk
Summary: This study investigates how attentional capture is influenced by the relative eccentricities of a target and a distractor. The results show that items closer to fixation are more likely to capture attention. Interestingly, target and distractor eccentricity do not affect reaction times. The findings have important implications for our understanding of the selection process of attention.
ATTENTION PERCEPTION & PSYCHOPHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Samson Chota, Surya Gayet, J. Leon Kenemans, Christian N. L. Olivers, Stefan Van der Stigchel
Summary: Our visual system devotes more resources to objects that are physically present, even though subjective experience suggests that perceived information is more strongly represented than memorized information. To test this, we manipulated perceptual availability and found that task-relevant features are more strongly represented in visual working memory than when they are perceptually available. This suggests that our visual system efficiently allocates resources to externally available information.
Article
Neurosciences
Elle Van Heusden, Christian N. L. Olivers, Mieke Donk
Summary: Peripheral vision plays an important role in selecting the target for the next eye movement. This study examines whether there is a bias in eye movement selection towards targets closer to the fixation point. Participants were presented with displays containing two identical targets and asked to move their eyes to one of them. The results show a bias towards selecting the target closest to fixation, which is stronger than predicted based on saccadic latency distributions. This suggests that attentional competition favors items that are close to the fixation point.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ingmar E. J. de Vries, Moritz F. Wurm
Summary: The study combines magnetoencephalography and naturalistic dynamic stimuli to show hierarchical predictive neural representations of observed actions. This approach allows investigating predictive processing of our dynamic world and can be applied to other naturalistic stimuli, providing important insights into how our brain predicts unfolding external dynamics.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)