Brain and Mind Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science, Aalto University, School of Science, Espoo, Finland.
Brain Res. 2011 Nov 8;1422:66-81. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2011.09.031. Epub 2011 Sep 22.
Based on behavioral studies, several relatively distinct perceptual and cognitive functions have been defined in cognitive psychology such as sensory memory, short-term memory, and selective attention. Here, we review evidence suggesting that some of these functions may be supported by shared underlying neuronal mechanisms. Specifically, we present, based on an integrative review of the literature, a hypothetical model wherein short-term plasticity, in the form of transient center-excitatory and surround-inhibitory modulations, constitutes a generic processing principle that supports sensory memory, short-term memory, involuntary attention, selective attention, and perceptual learning. In our model, the size and complexity of receptive fields/level of abstraction of neural representations, as well as the length of temporal receptive windows, increases as one steps up the cortical hierarchy. Consequently, the type of input (bottom-up vs. top down) and the level of cortical hierarchy that the inputs target, determine whether short-term plasticity supports purely sensory vs. semantic short-term memory or attentional functions. Furthermore, we suggest that rather than discrete memory systems, there are continuums of memory representations from short-lived sensory ones to more abstract longer-duration representations, such as those tapped by behavioral studies of short-term memory.
基于行为研究，认知心理学中已经定义了几种相对不同的感知和认知功能，例如感觉记忆、短期记忆和选择性注意。在这里，我们回顾了一些证据表明，这些功能中的一些可能是由共享的潜在神经机制支持的。具体来说，我们根据文献的综合回顾，提出了一个假设模型，其中短期可塑性以短暂的中心兴奋和周围抑制调制的形式构成了一种通用的处理原则，支持感觉记忆、短期记忆、非自愿注意、选择性注意和知觉学习。在我们的模型中，感受野/神经表示的抽象水平的大小和复杂性以及时间感受窗的长度随着在皮层层次结构中的上升而增加。因此，输入的类型（自上而下与自下而上）和输入所针对的皮层层次结构决定了短期可塑性是否支持纯粹的感觉短期记忆或注意力功能。此外，我们认为，与其说是离散的记忆系统，不如说是从短暂的感觉记忆到更抽象的长时间持续的记忆表示的连续体，例如那些通过短期记忆的行为研究来挖掘的记忆表示。
