Article

The roles of prefrontal brain regions in components of working memory: effects of memory load and individual differences.

Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4283, USA.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (impact factor: 9.68). 06/1999; 96(11):6558-63. pp.6558-63
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Using an event-related functional MRI design, we explored the relative roles of dorsal and ventral prefrontal cortex (PFC) regions during specific components (Encoding, Delay, Response) of a working memory task under different memory-load conditions. In a group analysis, effects of increased memory load were observed only in dorsal PFC in the encoding period. Activity was lateralized to the right hemisphere in the high but not the low memory-load condition. Individual analyses revealed variability in activation patterns across subjects. Regression analyses indicated that one source of variability was subjects' memory retrieval rate. It was observed that dorsal PFC plays a differentially greater role in information retrieval for slower subjects, possibly because of inefficient retrieval processes or a reduced quality of mnemonic representations. This study supports the idea that dorsal and ventral PFC play different roles in component processes of working memory.

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Keywords

activation patterns
 
different memory-load conditions
 
different roles
 
differentially greater role
 
dorsal
 
dorsal PFC
 
event-related functional MRI design
 
inefficient retrieval processes
 
information retrieval
 
low memory-load condition
 
mnemonic representations
 
PFC
 
reduced quality
 
relative roles
 
slower subjects
 
specific components
 
ventral PFC
 
ventral prefrontal cortex
 

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