title: Working Memory Systems in the Rat.
abstract: A fundamental feature of memory in humans is the ability to simultaneously work with multiple types of information using independent memory systems. Working memory is conceptualized as two independent memory systems under executive control [1, 2]. Although there is a long history of using the term "working memory" to describe short-term memory in animals, it is not known whether multiple, independent memory systems exist in nonhumans. Here, we used two established short-term memory approaches to test the hypothesis that spatial and olfactory memory operate as independent working memory resources in the rat. In the olfactory memory task, rats chose a novel odor from a gradually incrementing set of old odors [3]. In the spatial memory task, rats searched for a depleting food source at multiple locations [4]. We presented rats with information to hold in memory in one domain (e.g., olfactory) while adding a memory load in the other domain (e.g., spatial). Control conditions equated the retention interval delay without adding a second memory load. In a further experiment, we used proactive interference [5-7] in the spatial domain to compromise spatial memory and evaluated the impact of adding an olfactory memory load. Olfactory and spatial memory are resistant to interference from the addition of a memory load in the other domain. Our data suggest that olfactory and spatial memory draw on independent working memory systems in the rat.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bratch
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007, USA.
authors.forename: Spencer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kann
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cain
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007, USA.
authors.forename: Jie-En
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007, USA.
authors.forename: Nilda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rivera-Reyes
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007, USA.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dalecki
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007, USA.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Arman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007, USA.
authors.forename: Austin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007, USA.
authors.forename: Shiloh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007, USA.
authors.forename: Hannah E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Corbin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Pizzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007, USA.
authors.forename: Alexandra E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-7007, USA. Electronic address: jcrystal@indiana.edu.
authors.forename: Jonathon D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Crystal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis*; D051381:Rats / Q000502:physiology*; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012903:Smell; D065852:Spatial Memory