Neural signatures for active maintenance and interference during working memory updating

Adrià Vilà-Balló; Juha Salmi; Anna Soveri; Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells; Minna Lehtonen; Matti Laine

doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.01.007

Neural signatures for active maintenance and interference during working memory updating

Biol Psychol. 2018 Feb:132:233-243. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.01.007. Epub 2018 Jan 12.

Authors

Adrià Vilà-Balló¹, Juha Salmi², Anna Soveri², Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells³, Minna Lehtonen², Matti Laine⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Tehtaankatu 2, Turku 20500, Finland; Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group [Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute-] IDIBELL, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona 08097, Spain; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Girona, Girona 17071, Spain; Headache and Neurological Pain Research Group, Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), Barcelona 08035, Spain. Electronic address: adria.vila@vhir.org.
² Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Tehtaankatu 2, Turku 20500, Finland.
³ Cognition and Brain Plasticity Group [Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute-] IDIBELL, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona 08097, Spain; Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona 08035, Spain; Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, ICREA, Barcelona, Spain.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Tehtaankatu 2, Turku 20500, Finland; Brain and Mind Center, University of Turku, Finland.

PMID: 29339147
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.01.007

Abstract

Although working memory (WM) is amongst the most studied neurocognitive functions, temporal patterns of its component processes are not fully understood. We examined the neural underpinnings of active maintenance and interference management in the n-back task by manipulating load (1-back vs 3-back) and including so-called lure stimuli. ERPs of 27 young adults revealed that the 1-back condition enabling active maintenance showed a positive slow wave (PSW) prior to the next stimulus (-600-0 ms) and augmented P2 (190-290 ms) and P3b (330-430 ms) responses after the stimulus appeared, albeit the latter effects were driven by the initial PSW. Moreover, PSW amplitude correlated negatively with reaction time in the 1-back condition. Responses to lures showed interference, accompanied with different ERP effects for the two load levels. Our results support the view that PSW reflects efficient WM maintenance and suggest two distinct neuronal correlates for interference in WM.

Keywords: EEG; Interference; N-back task; Positive slow wave; Updating; Working memory.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Brain Waves / physiology*
Cognition / physiology*
Evoked Potentials / physiology*
Female
Humans
Male
Memory, Short-Term / physiology*
Reaction Time / physiology
Task Performance and Analysis
Young Adult