Fiebach Christian J, Friederici Angela D, Smith Edward E, Swinney David
Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, Germany.
J Cogn Neurosci. 2007 Dec;19(12):2035-49. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2007.19.12.2035.
Verbal working memory, that is, the temporary maintenance of linguistic information in an activated state, is typically assumed to rely on phonological representations. Recent evidence from behavioral, neuropsychological, and electrophysiological studies, however, suggests that conceptual-semantic representations may also be maintained in an activated state. We developed a new semantic working memory task that involves the maintenance of a novel conceptual combination. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data acquired during the maintenance of conceptual combinations, relative to an item recognition task without the possibility of conceptual combination, demonstrate increased activation in the posterior left middle and inferior temporal gyri (known to be involved in conceptual representations) and left inferior frontal gyrus (known to be involved in semantic control processes). We suggest that this temporo-frontal system supports maintenance of conceptual information in working memory, with the frontal regions controlling the sustained activation of heteromodal conceptual representations in the inferior temporal cortex.
言语工作记忆，即语言信息在激活状态下的临时维持，通常被认为依赖于语音表征。然而，来自行为学、神经心理学和电生理学研究的最新证据表明，概念语义表征也可能在激活状态下得到维持。我们开发了一种新的语义工作记忆任务，该任务涉及一种新颖概念组合的维持。在概念组合维持期间获取的功能磁共振成像数据，相对于不可能进行概念组合的项目识别任务，显示左颞中回后部和颞下回以及左下额回（已知与概念表征有关）的激活增加。我们认为，这个颞叶-额叶系统支持工作记忆中概念信息的维持，额叶区域控制颞下回中异模态概念表征的持续激活。
