WMREPS Hidden brain states underlying efficient representations in working memory

• Antragsteller: Dr. Elkan Akyurek; Professor Dr. Nikolai Axmacher; Professor Dr. Mark Stokes (†)
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Kognitive und systemische Humanneurowissenschaften
• Förderung: Förderung von 2018 bis 2023
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 396894956

The collaborative project will draw together an international team of cognitive scientists with complementary expertise to investigate a central question in cognitive neuroscience: how does the brain keep information in mind? So called ‘working memory’ plays a vital role in high-level cognition, allowing us to remember things over short periods of time, so that we can maintain and manipulate information in a flexible manner. This ability is essential for an incredibly broad range of behaviours; from the simplest task (e.g. making coffee) to the highest levels of mental processes (mental arithmetic, IQ tests, etc). Individual differences in working memory strongly predict academic and professional success, and cognitive training regimes target working memory as a core function for cognitive improvement.When it comes to the nature of working memory, two facts are beyond doubt: First, it is notoriously limited and can hold only a handful of items at any given time. Second, to make the most of this precious limited resource, working memory needs to be optimally organised, so that it contains efficient, structured representations of objects and events.Beyond these basic facts, however, the nature of storage in working memory is not well defined and is currently heavily debated. Fundamental challenges in measuring the neural correlates of working memory impede a better understanding of how memory limits arise and how they might be alleviated.Past research has assumed that information in working memory is represented in persistent neural activity; however, we argue that neural coding for working memory actually goes far deeper than such static activity. Until recently, there was no obvious method to explore working memory beyond looking at ongoing activity, but a new technique (‘neural sonar’) we developed allows a fresh perspective on the underlying, hidden states of the brain. We will apply our new approach to determine the fundamental nature of capacity limits in working memory, and how these can be maximised for superior performance.In Oxford, we will use state-of-the-art high-temporal resolution recordings to unravel the brain dynamics that underpin basic capacity limits, and how these can be optimised by preparing for different types of memory tests. In Groningen, we will draw on the cognitive expertise in information integration to explore how capacity can be optimised by better structuring the information in working memory. Finally, in Bochum we team up with clinicians and neurosurgeons to explore working memory in patients with electrodes implanted for treatment purposes, which affords us the unique opportunity to record directly from specific brain areas, and chart how communication between them shapes working memory.Drawing together insights from this research will provide new perspectives to a long-standing challenge in cognitive neuroscience, and ultimately, pave new ways to improve working memory function.

• DFG-Verfahren: Sachbeihilfen
• Internationaler Bezug: Großbritannien, Niederlande