Dorsolateral prefrontal contributions to human working memory.
Although neuroscience has made remarkable progress in understanding the involvement of prefrontal cortex (PFC) in human memory, the necessity of dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC) for key competencies of working memory remains largely unexplored. We therefore studied human brain lesion patients to determine whether dlPFC is necessary for working memory function, administering subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, and the N-Back Task to three participant groups: dlPFC lesions (n=19), non-dlPFC lesions (n=152), and no brain lesions (n=54). DlPFC damage was associated with deficits in the manipulation of verbal and spatial knowledge, with left dlPFC necessary for manipulating information in working memory and right dlPFC critical for manipulating information in a broader range of reasoning contexts. Our findings elucidate the architecture of working memory, providing key neuropsychological evidence for the necessity of dlPFC in the manipulation of verbal and spatial knowledge.
Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. barbey@illinois.edu
Aron K
AK
Barbey
Michael
M
Koenigs
Jordan
J
Grafman
D000368:Aged; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / Q000379:methods