title: Self-paced working memory: validation of verbal variations of the n-back paradigm.
abstract: Self-paced versions of many paradigms could have utility in probing cognitive systems. To validate several self-paced n-back paradigms, fourteen subjects performed four variations of the working memory task using visually presented letters as stimuli. Several areas in the frontal lobe, the anterior cingulate and a parietal network were consistently activated in the four variations: identity of black letters, location of black letters, color of colored letters and identity of colored letters. Since the n-back task is one of the more popular methods of investigating working memory, we validated the utility of several self-paced versions in normal subjects via quantitative, coordinate-based meta-analyses. The self-paced results agree well with meta-analyses and other published results, giving confidence that a self-paced n-back paradigm is robust in multiple variations. Behavioral results differ from other published reports, perhaps offering insight into true working memory strategy in normal subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA. kathryn.mcmillan@vanderbilt.edu
authors.forename: Kathryn M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: McMillan
authors.forename: Angela R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Laird
authors.forename: Suzanne T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Witt
authors.forename: M Elizabeth
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Meyerand
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D013997:Time Factors; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*