Working memory refers to the active mental retention of information, to its manipulation, and to its use in guiding behavior. Its role in many types of high level cognition, as a factor underlying individual differences across a broad spectrum of experimental and real world measures, and as a factor in many psychiatric and neurological diseases, makes it important to many branches of cognitive and clinical neuroscience. The focus of this proposal is to elucidate the contributions of neural oscillations to working memory and to the related cognitive construct of attention. Oscillations are ubiquitous in the brain, but their role in supporting many types of cognition and behavior remains poorly understood and, in some cases, controversial. The methodological approach is to measure neural oscillations during cognitive task performance with the electroencephalogram (EEG), in some cases while simultaneously applying repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), and in some cases applying multivariate pattern classification analysis (MVPA) to the data. rTMS can extend what can be learned with EEG alone in many ways: It can bias endogenous, delay-period oscillations to demonstrate their causal influence on behavior; it can unmask functionally relevant components of the EEG that are not evident in EEG-only data; and it can provide direct indices of effective connectivity. MVPA is an important tool for this research, because it can assess whether a signal is representing the information that is being held in working memory (something that cannot be inferred by more tradition techniques that rely on interpretation of signal intensity levels).
Two specific aims are addressed in this proposal. The first is to test th hypothesis that delay-period oscillatory activity carries stimulus-specific information. Two foci o this aim will be the neural mechanism for storing information that is in working memory, but outside the focus of attention, and addressing whether an event-related potential associated with working memory, contralateral delay activity (CDA), reflects information storage per se, or a more general state that is sensitive to cognitive load. The second specific aim is to test the hypothesis that working memory and attentional tasks are supported by common oscillatory patterns, and that the functions of these patterns vary with context. These studies will contribute to theoretical models of working memory, as well as to a better understanding of the mechanistic role of neuronal oscillations in working memory and attention. In addition to the basic science questions outlined here, there is translational relevance for this work for the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders that are associated with abnormal neural oscillations.

Public Health Relevance

This project will study brain processes underlying working memory, a cognitive ability that is compromised in many psychiatric and neurological conditions, including schizophrenia, Fragile X syndrome, and traumatic brain injury. Its specific focus is on how brain waves contribute to working memory. A better understanding of brain waves might lead to improved diagnosis and treatment of a wide variety of psychiatric and neurological conditions.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH095984-03
Application #
8773610
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-IFCN-Q (90))
Program Officer
Osborn, Bettina D
Project Start
2012-12-14
Project End
2017-11-30
Budget Start
2014-12-01
Budget End
2015-11-30
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
$406,342
Indirect Cost
$128,269
Name
University of Wisconsin Madison
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
161202122
City
Madison
State
WI
Country
United States
Zip Code
53715
LaRocque, Joshua J; Riggall, Adam C; Emrich, Stephen M et al. (2017) Within-Category Decoding of Information in Different Attentional States in Short-Term Memory. Cereb Cortex 27:4881-4890
Boly, Melanie; Massimini, Marcello; Tsuchiya, Naotsugu et al. (2017) Are the Neural Correlates of Consciousness in the Front or in the Back of the Cerebral Cortex? Clinical and Neuroimaging Evidence. J Neurosci 37:9603-9613
Emrich, Stephen M; Johnson, Jeffrey S; Sutterer, David W et al. (2017) Comparing the Effects of 10-Hz Repetitive TMS on Tasks of Visual STM and Attention. J Cogn Neurosci 29:286-297
Lapate, Regina C; Samaha, Jason; Rokers, Bas et al. (2017) Inhibition of Lateral Prefrontal Cortex Produces Emotionally Biased First Impressions: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Electroencephalography Study. Psychol Sci 28:942-953
Samaha, Jason; Iemi, Luca; Postle, Bradley R (2017) Prestimulus alpha-band power biases visual discrimination confidence, but not accuracy. Conscious Cogn 54:47-55
Samaha, Jason; Gosseries, Olivia; Postle, Bradley R (2017) Distinct Oscillatory Frequencies Underlie Excitability of Human Occipital and Parietal Cortex. J Neurosci 37:2824-2833
Siclari, Francesca; Baird, Benjamin; Perogamvros, Lampros et al. (2017) The neural correlates of dreaming. Nat Neurosci 20:872-878
Cole, Scott R; van der Meij, Roemer; Peterson, Erik J et al. (2017) Nonsinusoidal Beta Oscillations Reflect Cortical Pathophysiology in Parkinson's Disease. J Neurosci 37:4830-4840
Rose, Nathan S; LaRocque, Joshua J; Riggall, Adam C et al. (2016) Reactivation of latent working memories with transcranial magnetic stimulation. Science 354:1136-1139
Samaha, Jason; Sprague, Thomas C; Postle, Bradley R (2016) Decoding and Reconstructing the Focus of Spatial Attention from the Topography of Alpha-band Oscillations. J Cogn Neurosci 28:1090-7

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