Authors: Sayala, Seema; Sala, Joseph B.; Courtney, Susan M.

Source: Cerebral Cortex, Volume 16, Number 5, May 2006 , pp. 609-617(9)

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Abstract:

Unlike tasks in which practice leads to an automatic stimulus–response association, it is thought working memory (WM) tasks continue to require cognitive control processes after repeated performance. Previous studies investigating WM task repetition are in accord with this. However, it is unclear whether changes in neural activity after repetition imply alterations in general control processes common to all WM tasks or are specific to the selection, encoding and maintenance of the relevant information. In the present study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine changes during sample, delay and test periods during repetition of both object and spatial delayed recognition tasks. We found decreases in fMRI activation in both spatial and object-selective areas after spatial WM task repetition, independent of behavioral performance. Few areas showed changed activity after object WM task repetition. These results indicate that spatial task repetition leads to increased efficiency of maintaining task-relevant information and improved ability to filter out task-irrelevant information. The specificity of this repetition effect to the spatial task suggests a difference exists in the nature of the representation of object and spatial information and that their maintenance in WM is likely subserved by different neural systems.

Keywords: fMRI; object working memory; prefrontal cortex; spatial working memory; task repetition

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhj007

Publication date: 2006-05-01

More about this publication?

• Cerebral Cortex publishes papers on the development, organization, plasticity, and function of the cerebral cortex, including the hippocampus. Studies with clear relevance to the cerebral cortex, such as the thalamocortical relationship or cortico-subcortical interactions, are also included.

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