Decoding Distinct Attention and Working Memory States from Human EEG

Abstract

Working memory allows us to temporarily hold task relevant information from the environment “in mind” so that we can manipulate or act upon it. As such, it is a critical workspace for many cognitive operations and individual differences in working memory play a key role in the ability to successfully perform many intelligent behaviors. For over 40 years, neural correlates of working memory have been observed as “delay activity” -sustained neural firing during the blank delay period of a working memory task that appears to serve as a mnemonic bridge connecting perception to response. Though much of this work has treated this activity as a monolithic process in which all facets of the working memory representation are maintained in a unified neural code. In recent work from my lab, we have developed novel multivariate approaches with human EEG to reveal that delay activity can be fractionated into distinct, but related facets of “online” memory that support cognitive performance and differences in human ability.