title: High stakes trigger the use of multiple memories to enhance the control of attention.
abstract: We can more precisely tune attention to highly rewarding objects than other objects in our environment, but how our brains do this is unknown. After a few trials of searching for the same object, subjects' electrical brain activity indicated that they handed off the memory representations used to control attention from working memory to long-term memory. However, when a large reward was possible, the neural signature of working memory returned as subjects recruited working memory to supplement the cognitive control afforded by the representations accumulated in long-term memory. The amplitude of this neural signature of working memory predicted the magnitude of the subsequent behavioral reward-based attention effects across tasks and individuals, showing the ubiquity of this cognitive reaction to high-stakes situations.
authors: Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, Center for Integrative & Cognitive Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors: Robert M G
authors: RM
authors: Reinhart
authors: Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, Center for Integrative & Cognitive Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA geoffrey.f.woodman@vanderbilt.edu.
authors: Geoffrey F
authors: GF
authors: Woodman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000513:Alpha Rhythm; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D057567:Memory, Long-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D012201:Reward; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: attention; event-related potentials; long-term memory; reward; working memory