Titel
Theta-Rhythmic Oscillation of Working Memory Performance
Autor*in
Abstract
Representations held in working memory are crucial in guiding human attention in a goal-directed fashion. Currently, it is debated whether only a single representation or several of these representations can be active and bias behavior at any given moment. In the present study, 25 university students performed a behavioral dense-sampling experiment to produce an estimate of the temporal-activation patterns of two simultaneously held visual templates. We report two key novel results. First, performance related to both representations was not continuous but fluctuated rhythmically at 6 Hz. This corresponds to neural oscillations in the theta band, the functional importance of which in working memory is well established. Second, our findings suggest that two concurrently held representations may be prioritized in alternation, not simultaneously. Our data extend recent research on rhythmic sampling of external information by demonstrating an analogous mechanism in the cyclic activation of internal working memory representations.
Stichwort
attentionoscillationstemplatesamplingvisual
Objekt-Typ
Sprache
Englisch [eng]
Persistent identifier
Erschienen in
Titel
Psychological Science
Band
32
Ausgabe
11
ISSN
0956-7976
Erscheinungsdatum
2021
Seitenanfang
1801
Seitenende
1810
Publication
SAGE Publications
Erscheinungsdatum
2021
Zugänglichkeit
Rechte
Rechteangabe
© The Author(s) 2021
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