Working memory is a cognitive function involving the storage and manipulation of latent information over brief intervals of time, thus making it crucial for context-dependent computation. Here, we use a top-down modeling approach to examine network-level mechanisms of working memory, an enigmatic issue and central topic of study in neuroscience. We optimize thousands of recurrent rate-based neural networks on a working memory task and then perform dynamical systems analysis on the ensuing optimized networks, wherein we find that four distinct dynamical mechanisms can emerge. In particular, we show the prevalence of a mechanism in which memories are encoded along slow stable manifolds in the network state space, leading to a phasic neuronal activation profile during memory periods. In contrast to mechanisms in which memories are directly encoded at stable attractors, these networks naturally forget stimuli over time. Despite this seeming functional disadvantage, they are more efficient in terms of how they leverage their attractor landscape and paradoxically, are considerably more robust to noise. Our results provide new hypotheses regarding how working memory function may be encoded within the dynamics of neural circuits.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009366 | DOI Listing |
Front Child Adolesc Psychiatry
December 2024
Brain Balance Achievement Centers, Naperville, IL, United States.
Accessibility to developmental interventions for children and adolescents could be increased through virtual, at-home delivery of training programs. Virtual childhood training programs and their effects on cognitive outcomes have not been well studied. To that end, this study examined the effects of the at-home Brain Balance® (BB) program on the cognitive task performance of children and adolescents with baseline developmental and attentional difficulties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNarra J
December 2024
Biological Models Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines.
Sodium metabisulfite is widely used as a preservative in many food and beverage products, yet its potential effects on cognitive and motor functions at low concentrations remain poorly understood. Evaluating learning, short-term memory, and motor activity is essential, as these functions are critical indicators of neurological health and could be impacted by low-level exposure to sodium metabisulfite. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sublethal concentrations of sodium metabisulfite on cognitive and motor functions using (fruit flies) as the model organism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Cancer Surviv
January 2025
Macquarie University Clinical Trials Unit (CTU), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University & Macquarie University Hospital, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia.
Purpose: Perceived cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) has been reported in prostate cancer survivors. Little is known about how CRCI impacts occupational functioning in working-aged prostate cancer survivors (PCS). This study aimed to investigate the association between CRCI and occupational functioning in PCS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCogn Affect Behav Neurosci
January 2025
Department of Psychological Sciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA.
In a sequence, at least two aspects of information-the identity of items and their serial order-are maintained and supported by distinct working memory (WM) capacities. Verbal serial order WM is modulated by spatial processing, reflected in the Spatial Position Association of Response Codes (SPoARC) effect-the left-beginning, right-end positional association between space and serial position of verbal WM memoranda. We investigated the individual differences in this modulation with both behavioral and neurobiological approaches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCommun Biol
January 2025
Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Hainan Province, School of Biomedical Engineering, Hainan University, Sanya, China.
The retrosplenial cortex (RSP) is a complex brain region with multiple interconnected subregions that plays crucial roles in various cognitive functions, including memory, spatial navigation, and emotion. Understanding the afferent and efferent connectivity of the RSP is essential for comprehending the underlying mechanisms of its functions. Here, via viral tracing and fluorescence micro-optical sectioning tomography (fMOST), we systematically investigated the anatomical organisation of the upstream and downstream circuits of glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons in the dorsal and ventral RSP.
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