CAREER: Sensorimotor representations in visual working memory.

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Working memory is a short-duration, limited-capacity system that enables the storage of information in an “online” state. Several lines of evidence suggest that working memory is an integral component of complex cognition, and working memory disruptions are common in many developmental, psychiatric, and neurological conditions. As a general-purpose workspace, working memory provides an important bridge between sensory information and anticipated actions, yet little is known about how memory representations are selected and translated into overt behaviors. This project will advance knowledge of the interplay between neural circuits supporting working memory and motor control in two complementary ways. First, it will test the hypothesis that the neural circuitry supporting working memory is critically dependent on how a person intends to use remembered information. Second, it will test the hypothesis that, when advantageous, the brain merges memory representations and motor plans into integrated units such that activating a memory representation automatically activates an associated motor plan (and vice versa). The research includes an integrated and ambitious education and outreach plan designed to increase the recruitment and retention of undergraduate students – particularly members of underrepresented groups and first-generation college students – in basic research activities. This project will develop a series of workshops where students will be introduced to basic research techniques in the human neurosciences, including opportunities for students to collect and analyze their own data. Intentional behaviors require organisms to select and maintain sensory, mnemonic, and motor representations that are relevant to current goals. These representations are combined in a temporary storage buffer known as working memory. The goal of this proposal is to understand how the brain translates temporary mnemonic representations into specific action plans. A hypothesis is that neural circuits supporting working memory storage flexibly incorporate posterior sensory cortex and cortical regions for generating task-relevant outputs (e.g., a verbal vs. oculomotor vs. manual response). When advantageous, the brain could integrate mnemonic and motor information such that priming one source of information (e.g., a memory representation) automatically primes the other (e.g., a specific motor response). This project will test this hypothesis by leveraging non-invasive neuroimaging methods (electroencephalography and functional neuroimaging) and image reconstruction techniques to reconstruct, visualize, and quantify stimulus-specific mnemonic representations in sensory and motor cortices while participants perform working memory tasks requiring verbal, manual, or oculomotor responses. The findings of this project will yield important new insights into the circuitry supporting working memory, as well as how mental representations are mapped onto overt actions. In addition, this basic research has the potential to yield new insights into disruptions in working memory that typically accompany many developmental, psychiatric, and neurological disorders.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.