Abstract
Current neuroscientific models describe the functional neural architecture of visual working memory (VWM) as an interaction of the frontal-parietal control network and more posterior areas in the ventral visual stream (Jonides et al., 2008; D'Esposito and Postle, 2015; Eriksson et al., 2015). These models are primarily based on adult neuroimaging studies. However, VWM undergoes significant development in infancy and early childhood, and the goal of this mini-review is to examine how recent findings from neuroscientific studies of early VWM development can be reconciled with this model. We surveyed 29 recent empirical reports that present neuroimaging findings in infants, toddlers, and preschoolers (using EEG, fNIRS, rs-fMRI) and neonatal lesion studies in non-human primates. We conclude that (1) both the frontal-parietal control network and the posterior cortical storage areas are active from early infancy; (2) this system undergoes focalization and some reorganization during early development; (3) and the MTL plays a significant role in this process as well. Motivated by both theoretical and methodological considerations, we offer some recommendations for future directions for the field.
Highlights
Working memory is a limited-capacity system for the maintenance and manipulation of information in service of ongoing tasks
The Early Neurodevelopment of Visual Working Memory that there are no separate working memory (WM)-specific storage systems in the brain; instead, representations held in WM are temporarily activated long-term memory (LTM) representations
While there is an abundant functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) literature on children older than 6–7 years of age (e.g., Geier et al, 2009; von Allmen et al, 2014), this method currently cannot be used with very young children, and here we focus on what is known about these mechanisms before this age
Summary
Working memory is a limited-capacity system for the maintenance and manipulation of information in service of ongoing tasks. Maintenance and manipulation of WM representations (the functions of the central executive) depend upon a frontal-parietal network (Awh and Jonides, 2001; Curtis and D’Esposito, 2003), in particular, anterior insula, lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and areas within and surrounding the intraparietal sulcus (Seeley et al, 2007) This conceptualization of WM is grounded in an extensive body of neuroscientific research, the majority of which has been conducted with human adults (for reviews, see Jonides et al, 2008; D’Esposito and Postle, 2015; Eriksson et al, 2015). Cuevas et al (2012a) found an increase in EEG coherence relative to baseline across the entire scalp in 5-month-olds but only between the medial frontal and occipital electrode sites in 10-montholds This finding is supported by the observation of increased focalization of frontal-parietal network activity between 8 months and 4.5 years of age, which may reflect more efficient communication (Bell and Wolfe, 2007). Because salience network activity is functionally dissociated from WM performance in adults (Seeley et al, 2007; Elton and Gao, 2014), Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience | www.frontiersin.org
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