Roshanaei Majid, Bahmani Zahra, Clark Kelsey, Daliri Mohammad Reza, Noudoost Behrad
Biomedical Engineering Department, School of Electrical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Narmak, P.O. Box 16846-13114, Tehran, Iran.
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 1411713116, Iran.
iScience. 2024 Jul 11;27(8):110489. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110489. eCollection 2024 Aug 16.
Working memory is the ability to maintain information in the absence of sensory input. In this study, we investigated how working memory benefits processing in visual areas. Using a measure of phase consistency to detect the arrival time of visual signals to the middle temporal (MT) area, we assessed the impact of working memory on the speed of sensory processing. We recorded from MT neurons in two monkeys during a spatial working memory task with visual probes. When the memorized location closely matches the receptive field center of the recording site, visual input arrives sooner, but if the memorized location does not match the receptive field center then the arrival of visual information is delayed. Thus, working memory expedites the arrival of visual input in MT. These results reveal that even in the absence of firing rate changes, working memory can still benefit the processing of information within sensory areas.
工作记忆是在没有感觉输入的情况下维持信息的能力。在本研究中，我们调查了工作记忆如何促进视觉区域的信息处理。使用相位一致性测量来检测视觉信号到达颞中区（MT区）的时间，我们评估了工作记忆对感觉处理速度的影响。在一项带有视觉探针的空间工作记忆任务中，我们记录了两只猴子MT神经元的活动。当记忆的位置与记录部位的感受野中心紧密匹配时，视觉输入到达得更快，但如果记忆的位置与感受野中心不匹配，那么视觉信息的到达就会延迟。因此，工作记忆加快了视觉输入在MT区的到达。这些结果表明，即使在放电率没有变化的情况下，工作记忆仍然可以促进感觉区域内信息的处理。
