Visual working memory guides attention rhythmically in humans
- Department of Psychology and Research Center of Adolescent Psychology and Behavior, School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China, China
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, China
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, China
- Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, China
Figures
Figure 1
Hypothetical models, experimental paradigm, and behavioral results.
(A) Hypothetical models illustrating the activation patterns of two memory items during the memory retention phase. Hypothesis 1 posits a single template, Hypothesis 2 suggests multiple templates, and Hypothesis 3 proposes dynamic templates. (B) Behavioral results, showing the attentional capture effect size (calculated as the difference in response time between the distractor matching the memory items and the target matching the memory items) and memory accuracy for the two memory items. n = 25. (C) Experimental procedure. A cue stimulus randomly indicated one of the two memory items. In 80% of the trials, participants performed a search task to identify the item with a gap facing upward or downward. In 20% of the trials, participants performed a recall task to determine whether the probed item matched one of the two memory colors.
Figure 2
Rhythmic alternation at 7 Hz and anti‑phasic relationship of attentional capture effects.
(A) Line graph. The attentional capture effect size for the cued and uncued items across different time intervals (stimulus onset asynchrony [SOA]), calculated as the difference in response time between the invalid and valid conditions. (B) Spectrum plot. The red line represents the amplitude of the values from A at different frequencies; the gray line indicates the 95th percentile from the permutation test; *: p<0.05. (C) Phase-locking value (PLV). The red line shows the PLV at 7 Hz for the cued and uncued items, representing the average phase difference across all participants; gray circles indicate the 0–95 percentile range from the permutation test; blue hollow circles represent the phase differences for individual participants between the two items.
Figure 3
Experimental paradigm and behavioral results without retro‑cue.
(A) Experimental procedure. Two memory items are presented simultaneously without any post-cue prompts. In 80% of the trials, participants performed a search task to identify the item with a gap facing upward or downward. In 20% of the trials, participants performed a recall task to determine whether the probed item matched one of the two memory colors. (B) Behavioral results, showing the attentional capture effect size and memory accuracy for the two memory items. n = 17.
Figure 4
The red line represents the average across all participants of the Fourier transforms of the differences in capture effects between left and right memory items at the individual level.
The gray area represents values below the group average of medians derived from 1000 permutations, with each permutation involving Fourier transforms for each participant. *: p<0.05.
Figure 5
Behavioral results of Experiment 3.
(A) Behavioral results, showing the attentional capture effect size and memory accuracy for the two memory items. n = 24.(B) Experimental procedure. A cue stimulus randomly indicated one of the two memory items. In 80% of the trials, participants performed a search task to identify the item with a gap facing upward or downward. In 20% of the trials, participants performed a recall task to determine whether the probed item matched one of the two memory colors.
Figure 6
Time-frequency activation of contralateral occipital alpha-band (8-14 Hz) during memory retention.
(Left) Time-frequency results of the contralateral occipital lobe (PO7/8) for cued items, showing significant alpha band activation (8–14 Hz) during the memory retention phase. (Right) Time-frequency results of the contralateral occipital electrodes (PO7/8) for uncued items, with a similar activation pattern to that observed for cued items.
Figure 7
Time-frequency results, showing the difference in contralateral electrode activity (PO7/PO8) for same-color and same-location items under cued and uncued conditions.
Figure 8
Fronto-occipital alpha-theta cross-frequency coupling and its alternating pattern during memory retention.
(A) Topographical maps. 1:2 cross-frequency phase synchrony (CFS) between the alpha phase at the white electrode points and the theta phase at other electrode points (the left two maps), and the theta phase at the white electrode points and the alpha phase at other electrode points (the right map) during the memory retention phase. (B) Functional connectivity map. 1:2 CFS phase coupling between the alpha phase at the contralateral electrodes (PO7/PO8) of the two memory items (red lines represent the cued item; black lines represent the uncued item) and the theta phase at the frontal electrode (Pz) during the memory retention phase.
Figure 9
Spectrum analysis of alpha power and cross‑frequency coupling during memory retention.
(A) Spectrum results. Power spectrum of the difference in contralateral alpha power between the two memory items during the retention phase across 0–50 Hz. (B) Spectrum results. Power spectrum of the difference in cross-frequency coupling (phase-locking value [PLV]-based 1:2 CFS) between the alpha phase at contralateral electrodes (PO7/PO8) and the theta phase at the frontal electrode (Fz) across 0–50 Hz during the retention phase. The gray shaded area represents the 0–95th percentile range from the permutation test; *: p<0.05.
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Visual working memory guides attention rhythmically in humans
eLife 14:RP108017.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.108017.4
