Auditory cortical alpha/beta desynchronization prioritizes the representation of memory items during a retention period

Abstract
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Abstract

To-be-memorized information in working-memory could be protected against distracting influences by processes of functional inhibition or prioritization. Modulations of oscillations in the alpha to beta range in task-relevant sensory regions have been suggested to play an important role for both mechanisms. We adapted a Sternberg task variant to the auditory modality, with a strong or a weak distracting sound presented at a predictable time during the retention period. Using a time-generalized decoding approach relatively decreased strength of memorized information was found prior to strong distractors, paralleled by decreased pre-distractor alpha / beta power in the left superior temporal gyrus (lSTG). Over the entire group, reduced beta power in lSTG was associated with relatively increased strength of memorized information. The extent of alpha power modulations within participants was negatively correlated strength of memorized information. Overall our results are compatible with a prioritization account, however point to nuanced differences between alpha and beta oscillations.

Data availability

All the preprocessed, downsampled raw data and processing MATLAB and R scripts could be found at https://osf.io/pw9rd/

The following data sets were generated

(2020) Auditory cortical alpha / beta desynchronization prioritizes the representation of memory items during a retention period
Open Science Foundation, doi:10.17605/OSF.IO/PW9RD.

https://osf.io/pw9rd/

Article and author information

Author details

Nathan Weisz

Department of Psychology and Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

For correspondence
nathan.weisz@sbg.ac.at

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-7816-0037
Nadine Gabriele Kraft

Department of Psychology and Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-2818-2283
Gianpaolo Demarchi

Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

For correspondence
gianpaolo.demarchi@sbg.ac.at

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-7597-9298

Funding

The authors declare that there was no funding for this work.

Ethics

Human subjects: The study was conducted according to the declaration of Helsinki (7th revision). Written informed consent was obtained from each participant prior to the experiment. All procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Salzburg (EK-GZ:22/2016a).

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.