Abstract
Although the contents of working memory can be decoded from visual cortex activity, these representations may play a limited role if they are not robust to distraction. We used model-based fMRI to estimate the impact of distracting visual tasks on working memory representations in several visual field maps in visual and frontoparietal association cortex. Here, we show distraction causes the fidelity of working memory representations to briefly dip when both the memorandum and distractor are jointly encoded by the population activities. Distraction induces small biases in memory errors which can be predicted by biases in neural decoding in early visual cortex, but not other regions. Although distraction briefly disrupts working memory representations, the widespread redundancy with which working memory information is encoded may protect against catastrophic loss. In early visual cortex, the neural representation of information in working memory and behavioral performance are intertwined, solidifying its importance in visual memory.
Highlights
The contents of working memory can be decoded from visual cortex activity, these representations may play a limited role if they are not robust to distraction
As previous work indicates that distractors that are more similar to memoranda are most disruptive[24,25,26,27,28,37], we tested whether the impact of distraction depended on how close the distractor was to the working memory (WM) target
We tested how distraction interferes with working memory (WM) representations to address the debated roles of early visual cortex versus association cortex
Summary
The contents of working memory can be decoded from visual cortex activity, these representations may play a limited role if they are not robust to distraction. Recent studies have repeatedly demonstrated that the contents of WM can be decoded from the multivariate patterns of activity in early visual cortex[5,6,7,8,9,10,11] This putative dichotomy between regions coordinating WM processes, located in a frontoparietal network, and regions storing remembered information, located within the sensory cortex, has led to the development of the sensory recruitment model of WM1,5,6,9,11–17. The idea that visual cortex plays a critical role in working memory continues to be met with skepticism[18,19,20], and major aspects of the sensory recruitment model remain underspecified It is unclear how neural circuitry in early visual cortex can simultaneously maintain WM representations while encoding incoming percepts[18]. These results point to a critical role for sensory regions in WM maintenance, supporting a key prediction of the sensory recruitment model
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call