title: Attending to auditory memory.
abstract: Attention to memory describes the process of attending to memory traces when the object is no longer present. It has been studied primarily for representations of visual stimuli with only few studies examining attention to sound object representations in short-term memory. Here, we review the interplay of attention and auditory memory with an emphasis on 1) attending to auditory memory in the absence of related external stimuli (i.e., reflective attention) and 2) effects of existing memory on guiding attention. Attention to auditory memory is discussed in the context of change deafness, and we argue that failures to detect changes in our auditory environments are most likely the result of a faulty comparison system of incoming and stored information. Also, objects are the primary building blocks of auditory attention, but attention can also be directed to individual features (e.g., pitch). We review short-term and long-term memory guided modulation of attention based on characteristic features, location, and/or semantic properties of auditory objects, and propose that auditory attention to memory pathways emerge after sensory memory. A neural model for auditory attention to memory is developed, which comprises two separate pathways in the parietal cortex, one involved in attention to higher-order features and the other involved in attention to sensory information. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Auditory working memory.
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto, Department of Psychology, Sidney Smith Hall, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G3; Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Hospital, 3560 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6A 2E1. Electronic address: jacqueline.zimmermann@mail.utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Jacqueline F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto, Department of Psychology, Sidney Smith Hall, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G3; Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Hospital, 3560 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6A 2E1.
authors.forename: Morris
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moscovitch
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto, Department of Psychology, Sidney Smith Hall, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G3; Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Hospital, 3560 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6A 2E1; Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alain
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D057567:Memory, Long-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008959:Models, Neurological
keywords: Attention to auditory memory; Change deafness; Long-term memory; Perceptual sensitivity; Short-term memory; Spatial attention