A finite set of content-free pointers in visual working memory: magnetoencephalography (MEG) evidence
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Human visual working memory (VWM) is known to be capacity-limited, but the nature of this limit continues to be debated. Recent work has proposed that VWM is supported by a finite (~3) set of content-free pointers, acting as stand-ins for individual objects and binding features together. According to this proposal, the pointers do not represent features within themselves, but rather bind features represented elsewhere together. The current study set out to test if neural hallmarks resembling these content-free pointers can be observed with magnetoencephalography (MEG). Based on two VWM delay-match-to-sample experiments (N = 20 each) examining memory for simple and complex objects, we report a sustained response in MEG over right posterior cortex whose magnitude tracks the core hypothesized properties of this content-free pointer system: load-dependent, capacity-limited, and content-free. These results provide novel evidence for a finite set of content-free pointers underlying VWM.
Source: Neuroreport
Authors: Xinchi Yu, Ellen Lau
Institution: University of Maryland, College Park
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4407783705