title: On the fate of non-cued mental representations in visuo-spatial working memory: Evidence by a retro-cuing paradigm.
abstract: By means of a visual retro-cuing paradigm, we investigated the influence of working memory representations that are not required for an ongoing task. A retro-cue reliably indicated the items on the left or right side of a memory array that remained relevant for a subsequent recognition task. On ERP level, the attentional selection of cued memory contents was reflected by a contralateral negativity that appeared at temporal sites in an interval following retro-cue presentation (i.e., 200-400ms). Additionally, the retro-cue caused a suppression of posterior induced alpha power contralateral to the relevant memory items reflecting the release of non-cued information from active maintenance in visuo-spatial working memory. Following the retro-cue, a central probe item was presented and participants had to state whether this stimulus was previously shown on the relevant side of the memory array. The probe was either a cued memory item (cued probe), non-cued memory item (non-cued probe) or was not shown in the previous memory array (new probe). While the same response was required, the non-cued probe condition featured slower response times referred to the new probe condition. In line with these results, a comparison of the probe-locked ERPs pointed toward additional memory retrieval and conflict control mechanisms when processing non-cued probes compared to new probes. Thus although retro-cues were used to drop non-cued information from working memory, it still interfered with the processing of new sensory information based on residual spatial representations in a passive and fragile short-term memory store.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at TU Dortmund, Germany. Electronic address: schneiderd@ifado.de.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at TU Dortmund, Germany.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mertes
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at TU Dortmund, Germany.
authors.forename: Edmund
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wascher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003463:Cues; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alpha oscillation; CDA; ERPs; Selective attention; Working memory