Yu Shijing, Konjusha Anyla, Ziemssen Tjalf, Beste Christian
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Cognitive Neurophysiology, TU Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, Dresden 01307, Germany.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Cognitive Neurophysiology, TU Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, Dresden 01307, Germany.
Neuroimage. 2024 Apr 1;289:120541. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120541. Epub 2024 Feb 14.
Our everyday activities require the maintenance and continuous updating of information in working memory (WM). To control this dynamic, WM gating mechanisms have been suggested to be in place, but the neurophysiological mechanisms behind these processes are far from being understood. This is especially the case when it comes to the role of oscillatory neural activity. In the current study we combined EEG recordings, and anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (atDCS) and pupil diameter recordings to triangulate neurophysiology, functional neuroanatomy and neurobiology. The results revealed that atDCS, compared to sham stimulation, affected the WM gate opening mechanism, but not the WM gate closing mechanism. The altered behavioral performance was associated with specific changes in alpha band activities (reflected by alpha desynchronization), indicating a role for inhibitory control during WM gate opening. Functionally, the left superior and inferior parietal cortices, were associated with these processes. The findings are the first to show a causal relevance of alpha desynchronization processes in WM gating processes. Notably, pupil diameter recordings as an indirect index of the norepinephrine (NE) system activity revealed that individuals with stronger inhibitory control (as indexed through alpha desynchronization) showed less pupil dilation, suggesting they needed less NE activity to support WM gate opening. However, when atDCS was applied, this connection disappeared. The study suggests a close link between inhibitory controlled WM gating in parietal cortices, alpha band dynamics and the NE system.
我们的日常活动需要维持和不断更新工作记忆（WM）中的信息。为了控制这种动态过程，人们提出工作记忆门控机制的存在，但这些过程背后的神经生理机制远未被理解。当涉及到振荡神经活动的作用时，情况尤其如此。在当前的研究中，我们结合了脑电图记录、阳极经颅直流电刺激（atDCS）和瞳孔直径记录，以确定神经生理学、功能神经解剖学和神经生物学之间的关系。结果显示，与假刺激相比，atDCS影响了工作记忆门控的开启机制，但不影响工作记忆门控的关闭机制。行为表现的改变与α波段活动的特定变化（由α去同步化反映）相关，表明在工作记忆门控开启过程中抑制控制发挥了作用。在功能上，左顶上叶和顶下叶皮质与这些过程相关。这些发现首次表明α去同步化过程在工作记忆门控过程中具有因果相关性。值得注意的是，瞳孔直径记录作为去甲肾上腺素（NE）系统活动的间接指标显示，抑制控制较强的个体（通过α去同步化指标）瞳孔扩张较小，这表明他们在支持工作记忆门控开启时需要较少的NE活动。然而，当应用atDCS时，这种联系消失了。该研究表明，顶叶皮质中抑制控制的工作记忆门控、α波段动态和NE系统之间存在密切联系。
