Dataset Information

Working Memory Systems in the Rat.

ABSTRACT: A fundamental feature of memory in humans is the ability to simultaneously work with multiple types of information using independent memory systems. Working memory is conceptualized as two independent memory systems under executive control [1, 2]. Although there is a long history of using the term "working memory" to describe short-term memory in animals, it is not known whether multiple, independent memory systems exist in nonhumans. Here, we used two established short-term memory approaches to test the hypothesis that spatial and olfactory memory operate as independent working memory resources in the rat. In the olfactory memory task, rats chose a novel odor from a gradually incrementing set of old odors [3]. In the spatial memory task, rats searched for a depleting food source at multiple locations [4]. We presented rats with information to hold in memory in one domain (e.g., olfactory) while adding a memory load in the other domain (e.g., spatial). Control conditions equated the retention interval delay without adding a second memory load. In a further experiment, we used proactive interference [5-7] in the spatial domain to compromise spatial memory and evaluated the impact of adding an olfactory memory load. Olfactory and spatial memory are resistant to interference from the addition of a memory load in the other domain. Our data suggest that olfactory and spatial memory draw on independent working memory systems in the rat.

SUBMITTER: Bratch A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4747793 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Working Memory Systems in the Rat.

Bratch Alexander A Kann Spencer S Cain Joshua A JA Wu Jie-En JE Rivera-Reyes Nilda N Dalecki Stefan S Arman Diana D Dunn Austin A Cooper Shiloh S Corbin Hannah E HE Doyle Amanda R AR Pizzo Matthew J MJ Smith Alexandra E AE Crystal Jonathon D JD

Current biology : CB 20160114 3

A fundamental feature of memory in humans is the ability to simultaneously work with multiple types of information using independent memory systems. Working memory is conceptualized as two independent memory systems under executive control [1, 2]. Although there is a long history of using the term "working memory" to describe short-term memory in animals, it is not known whether multiple, independent memory systems exist in nonhumans. Here, we used two established short-term memory approaches to ...[more]

PMID: 26776732

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Project description:Cognitive impairment is a common comorbidity of epilepsy and adversely impacts people with both frontal lobe (FLE) and temporal lobe (TLE) epilepsy. While its neural substrates have been investigated extensively in TLE, functional imaging studies in FLE are scarce. In this study, we profiled the neural processes underlying cognitive impairment in FLE and directly compared FLE and TLE to establish commonalities and differences. We investigated 172 adult participants (56 with FLE, 64 with TLE and 52 controls) using neuropsychological tests and four functional MRI tasks probing expressive language (verbal fluency, verb generation) and working memory (verbal and visuo-spatial). Patient groups were comparable in disease duration and anti-seizure medication load. We devised a multiscale approach to map brain activation and deactivation during cognition and track reorganization in FLE and TLE. Voxel-based analyses were complemented with profiling of task effects across established motifs of functional brain organization: (i) canonical resting-state functional systems; and (ii) the principal functional connectivity gradient, which encodes a continuous transition of regional connectivity profiles, anchoring lower-level sensory and transmodal brain areas at the opposite ends of a spectrum. We show that cognitive impairment in FLE is associated with reduced activation across attentional and executive systems, as well as reduced deactivation of the default mode system, indicative of a large-scale disorganization of task-related recruitment. The imaging signatures of dysfunction in FLE are broadly similar to those in TLE, but some patterns are syndrome-specific: altered default-mode deactivation is more prominent in FLE, while impaired recruitment of posterior language areas during a task with semantic demands is more marked in TLE. Functional abnormalities in FLE and TLE appear overall modulated by disease load. On balance, our study elucidates neural processes underlying language and working memory impairment in FLE, identifies shared and syndrome-specific alterations in the two most common focal epilepsies and sheds light on system behaviour that may be amenable to future remediation strategies.

Dataset Information

Working Memory Systems in the Rat.

Publications

Working Memory Systems in the Rat.

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