Distinct electrophysiological indices of maintenance in auditory and visual short-term memory.
We compared the electrophysiological correlates for the maintenance of non-musical tones sequences in auditory short-term memory (ASTM) to those for the short-term maintenance of sequences of coloured disks held in visual short-term memory (VSTM). The visual stimuli yielded a sustained posterior contralateral negativity (SPCN), suggesting that the maintenance of sequences of coloured stimuli engaged structures similar to those involved in the maintenance of simultaneous visual displays. On the other hand, maintenance of acoustic sequences produced a sustained negativity at fronto-central sites. This component is named the Sustained Anterior Negativity (SAN). The amplitude of the SAN increased with increasing load in ASTM and predicted individual differences in the performance. There was no SAN in a control condition with the same auditory stimuli but no memory task, nor one associated with visual memory. These results suggest that the SAN is an index of brain activity related to the maintenance of representations in ASTM that is distinct from the maintenance of representations in VSTM.
Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition, Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC, Canada H3C 3J7; International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research, Pavillon 1420 Mont-Royal, Université de Montréal, CP 6128, succursale Centre Ville, Montréal, QC, Canada H3C 3J7; Centre de recherche de l'institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, 4545 Chemin Queen Mary, Montréal, QC, Canada H3W 1W4. Electronic address: christine.lefebvre@umontreal.ca.
Christine
C
Lefebvre
François
F
Vachon
Stephan
S
Grimault
Jennifer
J
Thibault
Synthia
S
Guimond
Isabelle
I
Peretz
Robert J
RJ
Zatorre
Pierre
P
Jolicœur
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D055815:Young Adult
Auditory short-term memory; EEG; ERP; Sustained anterior negativity; Sustained posterior contralateral negativity; Visual short-term memory