Working memory is the ability to store and manipulate information that is not currently present in the environment, but exists in the mind. Working memory is important to understand, because it is the foundation for reasoning, mathematics, learning a language, and other cognitive processes that involve the integration and manipulation of information stored in memory. With funding from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Susan Ravizza of the Michigan State University is investigating how people are able to keep important information active in their mind and not deplete limited memory capacity in storing unimportant information. The project focuses on two abilities that could help to determine which information gets stored in working memory. One ability directs attention to salient information in the environment, and Dr. Ravizza and her laboratory are investigating if brain activity in a region called the "temporal parietal junction" signals to orient attention to this information. Another ability gates information, and the researchers are investigating if brain activity in the basal ganglia "opens the gate" to allow important information into working memory or "closes the gate," so that irrelevant information is excluded from working memory. How these two brain components, attention and gating, work together so that working memory capacity is used effectively is being investigated as well. These studies are using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of brain activity while people are in the process of storing and recalling information. In addition to studying healthy participants, analyses of individuals with Parkinson's disease, who have basal ganglia dysfunction, are providing further insight into the basic mechanisms of working memory performance.
This project is investigating a brain model of how information gains access to working memory through specific brain mechanisms. The research is helping to explain why unexciting information is more likely to be forgotten, and how attention to distracting information reduces memory performance. Understanding the mechanisms by which task-relevant information is stored in the presence of distracting information has increased in importance. Given that distracting information is becoming more common in environments such as the workplace, the car, and the classroom, the broader impacts of this research are likely to be significant. For example, social networking (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) during class could interfere with working memory abilities that are needed to learn in the classroom. The results of this research could suggest, for example, that strategies to improve memory should target the ability to ignore distracting information rather than trying to increase absolute storage capacity. This knowledge has potential to impact education by promoting awareness of the detrimental effects of distraction and could serve as the basis for informed policies regarding social networking in the classroom or workplace. In addition, the studies of patients with Parkinson's provide basic knowledge about the type of memory impairments experienced with basal ganglia damage.
