title: Visual image retention does not contribute to modulation of event-related potentials by mental rotation.
abstract: Rotation of a visual image in mind is associated with a slow posterior negative deflection of the event-related potential (ERP), termed rotation-related negativity (RRN). Retention of a visual image in short-term memory is also associated with a slow posterior negative ERP, termed negative slow wave (NSW). We tested whether short-term memory retention, indexed by the NSW, contributes to the RRN. ERPs were recorded in the same subjects in two tasks, a mental rotation task, eliciting the RRN, and a visual short-term memory task, eliciting the NSW. Over both right and left parietal scalp, no association was found between the NSW and the RRN amplitudes. Furthermore, adjusting for the effect of the NSW had no influence on a significant association between the RRN amplitude and response time, an index of mental rotation performance. Our data indicate that the RRN reflects manipulation of a visual image but not its retention in short-term memory.
authors.affiliation: Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, A-1010 Vienna, Austria; Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, CE NOREG, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Sienkiewiczova 1, 813 71 Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: igor.riecansky@univie.ac.at.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Riečanský
authors.forename: Livia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tomova
authors.forename: Stanislav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katina
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Florian Ph S
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Fischmeister
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lamm
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time; D012399:Rotation; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Event related potentials; Individual differences; Rotation related negativity; Spatial cognition; Visual imagery; Working memory