title: Persistent neural activity in auditory cortex is related to auditory working memory in humans and nonhuman primates.
abstract: Working memory is the cognitive capacity of short-term storage of information for goal-directed behaviors. Where and how this capacity is implemented in the brain are unresolved questions. We show that auditory cortex stores information by persistent changes of neural activity. We separated activity related to working memory from activity related to other mental processes by having humans and monkeys perform different tasks with varying working memory demands on the same sound sequences. Working memory was reflected in the spiking activity of individual neurons in auditory cortex and in the activity of neuronal populations, that is, in local field potentials and magnetic fields. Our results provide direct support for the idea that temporary storage of information recruits the same brain areas that also process the information. Because similar activity was observed in the two species, the cellular bases of some auditory working memory processes in humans can be studied in monkeys.
authors.affiliation: Special Lab Primate Neurobiology, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6471-8009
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Special Lab Non-Invasive Brain Imaging, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Artur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matysiak
authors.affiliation: Department Systems Physiology of Learning, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany.|Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Heil
authors.affiliation: Special Lab Non-Invasive Brain Imaging, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: König
authors.affiliation: Special Lab Primate Neurobiology, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany.|Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brosch
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D000882:Haplorhini; D006801:Humans; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Longtail macaque; auditory cortex; human; neuroscience; persistent neuronal activity; working memory