The experiments in this thesis investigated the mechanisms controlling input and output gating of working memory. In chapter 3, accuracy and reaction time data from a precision/capacity working memory task with prospective and retrospective cues were analysed. The results suggest that retrocues boost performance by facilitating output gating from working memory. In chapter 4, the role of perceptual cortex in mediating the cue benefits in this task was investigated with magnetoencephalography (MEG). The pattern of alpha (8-12Hz) power in visual cortex was modulated by cue direction following both precues and retrocues, but whilst this modulation was sustained following a precue (until presentation of the memory array) it was transient following a retrocue, suggesting that a memory representation was briefly retrieved or refreshed, but that there was not a sustained biasing of top-down input to visual cortex following retrocues. This argues against the standard model of working memory as sustained attention to internal representations, and in favour of a more dynamic view in which perceptual cortex is recruited transiently, and otherwise freed up for on-going processing. In chapter 5, the role of frontal networks in precueing and retrocueing was investigated. An fMRI meta-analysis identified control networks involved in preparatory and mnemonic selection: whilst the fronto-parietal network is recruited in both cases, the cingulo-opercular network is recruited only by retrocues. This spatial pattern was replicated with a source-space ROI analysis of MEG induced-responses. These data also characterised the time-course of control network activation shedding light on their functional roles. The fronto-parietal network was activated immediately following both precues and retrocues, consistent with a direct role in top-down influence over perceptual cortex. By contrast, the cingulo-opercular network was activated following retrocues only after the perceptual refreshing event was complete, suggesting a downstream role, perhaps in selecting representations to guide action. Chapter 6 investigated the role of reward associations in controlling access to working memory, testing behavioural predictions of two theories implicating the dopamine system and basal ganglia in control of working memory. The results supported a temporal gating account in which encountering reward associated items triggers a brief (<300ms) window in which there is a boost of encoding for WM. Chapter 7 discusses the implications of the current work and suggests some future directions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:635225 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Wallis, George J. |
| Contributors | Nobre, A. C.; Stokes, Mark G. |
| Publisher | University of Oxford |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:1a9be8d6-9f8e-49af-8185-8be4c890010f |
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