A. Kiyonaga: Working Memory Beyond the Cortex

Abstract
Working memory (WM) serves to keep goal information temporarily active ‘in mind’ so it can be used to guide behavior. Yet the nervous system may engage myriad functions to accomplish that feat. WM-related signals are widely distributed across the brain and can now be detected in evolutionarily earlier structures than previously thought—like the cerebellum, thalamus, and superior colliculus. Mounting evidence also shows that even peripheral oculomotor and physiological signatures can reflect WM content, raising the question of just how distally WM function extends. I will describe a recent body of work where we test the idea that visual WM content is adaptively distributed across the nervous system—including the sensory receptors and motor effectors—according to behavioral demands. For instance, we find feature-specific WM content signals in pupil size modulations, spatio-temporal gaze sequences, and systematic manual gestures. We also find that such signatures are tailored to the unique behavioral demands of the situation, hinting that they are selective and functionally relevant. These findings converge on the idea that WM may recruit even the most primary structures in sensorimotor processing, to mentally represent goals and turn them into actions.

Bio
Anastasia Kiyonaga is an Assistant Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). She received her Ph.D. in Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University, working with Tobias Egner, then completed postdoctoral training at the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute of UC Berkeley, working with Mark D’Esposito. Her research group at UCSD studies the cognitive neuroscience of human memory and attention function.

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