Temporal dynamics of brain activation during a working memory task

Working memory is responsible for the short-term storage and online manipulation of information necessary for higher cognitive functions, such as language, planning and problem-solving 1,2 . Traditionally, working memory has been divided into two types of processes: executive control (governing the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1997-04, Vol.386 (6625), p.604-608
Main Authors: Cohen, Jonathan D, Perlstein, William M, Braver, Todd S, Nystrom, Leigh E, Noll, Douglas C, Jonides, John, Smith, Edward E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Anatomical correlates of behavior
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Brain Mapping
Cognition - physiology
Cognitive ability
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
letter
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
Male
Memory
Memory, Short-Term - physiology
multidisciplinary
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Prefrontal Cortex - physiology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychomotor Performance
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
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Summary:Working memory is responsible for the short-term storage and online manipulation of information necessary for higher cognitive functions, such as language, planning and problem-solving 1,2 . Traditionally, working memory has been divided into two types of processes: executive control (governing the encoding manipulation and retrieval of information in working memory) and active maintenance (keeping information available 'online'). It has also been proposed that these two types of processes may be subserved by distinct cortical structures, with the prefrontal cortex housing the executive control processes, and more posterior regions housing the content-specific buffers (for example verbal versus visuospatial) responsible for active maintenance 3,4 . However, studies in non-human primates suggest that dorsolateral regions of the prefrontal cortex may also be involved in active maintenance 5–8 . We have used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain activation in human subjects during performance of a working memory task. We used the temporal resolution of this technique to examine the dynamics of regional activation, and to show that prefrontal cortex along with parietal cortex appears to play a role in active maintenance.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/386604a0