CAREER: Neural processes that influence the contents of working memory

工作记忆是存储和处理当前不存在于环境中但存在于大脑中的信息的能力。理解工作记忆很重要，因为它是推理、数学、学习语言和其他认知过程的基础，这些认知过程涉及整合和处理存储在记忆中的信息。在国家科学基金会的资助下，密歇根州立大学的苏珊·拉维扎博士正在研究人们如何能够让重要信息在脑海中保持活跃，而不会耗尽有限的记忆容量来存储不重要的信息。该项目专注于两种能力，它们可以帮助确定哪些信息存储在工作记忆中。一种能力是将注意力引导到环境中的显著信息上，拉维扎博士和她的实验室正在研究，大脑活动在一个被称为“颞顶交界处”的区域是否发出信号，将注意力引向这一信息。另一种能力是信息门，研究人员正在调查，基底节中的大脑活动是打开了进入工作记忆的重要信息的门，还是关闭了重要信息的门，从而将无关的信息排除在工作记忆之外。注意力和门控这两个大脑组成部分如何协同工作，从而有效地利用工作记忆容量，也正在进行研究。这些研究是在人们存储和回忆信息的过程中使用大脑活动的功能磁共振成像(FMRI)。除了研究健康的参与者，对患有基底节功能障碍的帕金森氏症患者的分析还提供了对工作记忆表现的基本机制的进一步洞察。这个项目正在研究一个大脑模型，该模型描述了信息如何通过特定的大脑机制获得工作记忆。这项研究有助于解释为什么乏味的信息更容易被遗忘，以及对分散注意力的信息的关注如何降低记忆性能。理解在干扰信息存在的情况下存储与任务相关的信息的机制变得越来越重要。鉴于令人分心的信息在工作场所、汽车和教室等环境中变得越来越常见，这项研究的更广泛影响可能是显著的。例如，课堂上的社交网络(如Facebook、Twitter)可能会干扰课堂学习所需的工作记忆能力。例如，这项研究的结果可能表明，改善记忆力的策略应该以忽略分散注意力的信息的能力为目标，而不是试图增加绝对存储容量。这种知识有可能通过提高人们对分心有害影响的认识来影响教育，并可作为课堂或工作场所有关社交网络的知情政策的基础。此外，对帕金森氏症患者的研究提供了关于基底神经节损伤所经历的记忆障碍类型的基本知识。

Working memory is the ability to store and manipulate information that is not currently present in the environment, but exists in the mind. Working memory is important to understand, because it is the foundation for reasoning, mathematics, learning a language, and other cognitive processes that involve the integration and manipulation of information stored in memory. With funding from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Susan Ravizza of the Michigan State University is investigating how people are able to keep important information active in their mind and not deplete limited memory capacity in storing unimportant information. The project focuses on two abilities that could help to determine which information gets stored in working memory. One ability directs attention to salient information in the environment, and Dr. Ravizza and her laboratory are investigating if brain activity in a region called the "temporal parietal junction" signals to orient attention to this information. Another ability gates information, and the researchers are investigating if brain activity in the basal ganglia "opens the gate" to allow important information into working memory or "closes the gate," so that irrelevant information is excluded from working memory. How these two brain components, attention and gating, work together so that working memory capacity is used effectively is being investigated as well. These studies are using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of brain activity while people are in the process of storing and recalling information. In addition to studying healthy participants, analyses of individuals with Parkinson's disease, who have basal ganglia dysfunction, are providing further insight into the basic mechanisms of working memory performance. This project is investigating a brain model of how information gains access to working memory through specific brain mechanisms. The research is helping to explain why unexciting information is more likely to be forgotten, and how attention to distracting information reduces memory performance. Understanding the mechanisms by which task-relevant information is stored in the presence of distracting information has increased in importance. Given that distracting information is becoming more common in environments such as the workplace, the car, and the classroom, the broader impacts of this research are likely to be significant. For example, social networking (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) during class could interfere with working memory abilities that are needed to learn in the classroom. The results of this research could suggest, for example, that strategies to improve memory should target the ability to ignore distracting information rather than trying to increase absolute storage capacity. This knowledge has potential to impact education by promoting awareness of the detrimental effects of distraction and could serve as the basis for informed policies regarding social networking in the classroom or workplace. In addition, the studies of patients with Parkinson's provide basic knowledge about the type of memory impairments experienced with basal ganglia damage.