title: The neural mechanisms of percept-memory comparison in visual working memory.
abstract: Researchers have revealed that comparing the perceptual input with the representations stored in visual working memory initiates a rapid attention-shift, which is predominantly triggered by the relevant-feature change. The comprehension of the change contents further necessitates a follow-up comparison that contrasts all the object features regardless of the task relevancy. However, whether such a distinct stage exists and how the process is carried on need further verification. We explored this issue by investigating the underlying neural mechanisms of the percept-memory comparison. By recording EEG, we found that both the task-relevant and -irrelevant feature changes elicited significantly more negative anterior N2 waves (230-340ms) rooting in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and meanwhile activated the frontal theta (5-8Hz, 250-550ms). These results suggest that a distinct comparison stage does exist, which is supported by the anterior N2, ACC and frontal theta.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, PR China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Zaifeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Xinyi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Junying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Mowei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult