How Is Occipito-Parietal Connectivity Altered To Protect Visual Working Memory From Distraction?
Year: 2021
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The visual environment is full of distraction and as visual working memory is severely resource limited, relevant information stored in memory needs to be protected. The contents of visual working memory may be protected from distraction by regulating the flow of information through the network of brain areas that support memory. Here, I tested this possibility by measuring the coupling of brain areas using fMRI background connectivity, while participants completed a change detection task under different levels of distraction. Under distraction, the superior intraparietal sulcus (sIPS) was more strongly connected with early perceptual areas, specifically area v1. This finding supports the conclusion that modulations of brain connectivity are one mechanism through which the contents of visual working memory are protected from distraction. The present findings also have implications for an ongoing debate about the role of sIPS in supporting VWM.
Author: Samantha Joubran
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3198496904