The Distributed Nature of Working Memory

Thomas B Christophel; P Christiaan Klink; Bernhard Spitzer; Pieter R Roelfsema; John-Dylan Haynes

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2016.12.007

The Distributed Nature of Working Memory

Thomas B Christophel, P Christiaan Klink, Bernhard Spitzer, Pieter R Roelfsema, John-Dylan Haynes

Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN)

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodical › Article › Scientific › peer-review

505 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Studies in humans and non-human primates have provided evidence for storage of working memory contents in multiple regions ranging from sensory to parietal and prefrontal cortex. We discuss potential explanations for these distributed representations: (i) features in sensory regions versus prefrontal cortex differ in the level of abstractness and generalizability; and (ii) features in prefrontal cortex reflect representations that are transformed for guidance of upcoming behavioral actions. We propose that the propensity to produce persistent activity is a general feature of cortical networks. Future studies may have to shift focus from asking where working memory can be observed in the brain to how a range of specialized brain areas together transform sensory information into a delayed behavioral response.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	111-124
Journal	Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Volume	21
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.12.007
Publication status	Published - 20 Jan 2017

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The Distributed Nature of Working Memory

Abstract

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