Temporary connective architectures in mind and brain: role of functional connectivity in working memory

心智和大脑中的临时连接结构：功能连接在工作记忆中的作用

• 批准号: BB/M010732/1
• 负责人: Mark Stokes
• 金额: $ 46.44万
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2015 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FM010732%2F1
• 关键词: Temporary; connective; architectures; mind; brain

The ability to hold information in mind for short periods of time depends on working memory. Working memory provides the functional backbone to high-level cognition - by holding information in working memory, we are able to perform complex actions based on time-extended goals and contextual contingencies. Put simply, working memory frees action from direct stimulus dependency. This research explores the fundamental neural principles of working memory, and how they contribute to flexible human cognition. The neuroscience of working memory faces a particular challenge: brain activity is highly dynamic. At first glance these dynamics seem at odds with the very nature of working memory. How can we keep a stable thought in mind while brain activity is constantly changing? Indeed, some of the most influential models in neuroscience are built on the first-level intuition that stability of mind depends on stable brain activity. Classic models assume that working memory is maintained by static patterns of neural activity, as if frozen in time to preserve a still-frame representation of the past. But new methods for measuring and analysing brain activity reveal a much more dynamic portrait: neural activity patterns are constantly changing, even when mental states remain stable. We need to develop an alternative theory to account for dynamic activity. In this research, we will test a new hypothesis that working memory in maintained by laying down specific, but temporary neural pathways. This idea allows for a more dynamic theory of brain function, but so far remains essentially untested. A region in the frontal lobe, known as prefrontal cortex, has been identified as particularly important for working memory maintenance. The first step in this research is to determine the brain processes that allow neural pathways in this area to adapt as rapidly as thought itself. Fundamental neurophysiological principles for working memory will be established by analysing a large-scale database of cellular recordings from prefrontal cortex. This international collaborative study will capitalise on more than ten years of research at leading institutions around the world, culminating in a database of unprecedented size to address fundamental questions that have so far been beyond the scope of individual experiments. In parallel, we will also study brain activity measured in patients undergoing pre-surgical neurological monitoring. This provides an exciting opportunity to measure high-level thought processes directly from the human brain. Access to these unique datasets will allow us to analyse how prefrontal networks are configured for working memory by testing how pathways can be flexibility established, and erased, according to changing memory demands. This research will also shed new light on capacity limits in human cognition. It is often assumed that the capacity to maintain information in working memory limits performance for a broad range of cognitive demands. However, this new research could provide an alternative explanation. Capacity limits may be more closely related to challenges associated with accessing information stored in brain connections. This raises the intriguing suggestion that cognitive capacity limits are not so much constrained by the sheer amount of information that we can keep in mind, but rather how we can put that information to use. Individual differences in memory capacity are strongly coupled to standard measures of general intelligence as well as real-world measures of academic progress and professional success. A deeper understanding of the fundamental neurophysiology mediating this core cognitive function could have broad implications for improving mental capacity in general.

在头脑中短时间记住信息的能力取决于工作记忆。工作记忆为高级认知提供了功能支柱--通过将信息保存在工作记忆中，我们能够根据时间延长的目标和背景偶发事件执行复杂的行动。简而言之，工作记忆将行动从直接刺激依赖中解放出来。这项研究探索了工作记忆的基本神经原理，以及它们如何有助于人类灵活的认知。工作记忆的神经科学面临着一个特殊的挑战：大脑活动是高度动态的。乍一看，这些动态似乎与工作记忆的本质不一致。当大脑活动不断变化时，我们怎么能保持头脑中的稳定思维？事实上，神经科学中一些最有影响力的模型是建立在第一级直觉的基础上的，即心理的稳定依赖于稳定的大脑活动。经典模型假设，工作记忆是由神经活动的静态模式维持的，就好像冻结在时间中，以保存对过去的静态框架表示。但测量和分析大脑活动的新方法揭示了一幅更具活力的图景：神经活动模式不断变化，即使精神状态保持稳定。我们需要开发一种替代理论来解释动态活动。在这项研究中，我们将检验一个新的假设，即工作记忆是通过建立特定的、但暂时的神经通路来维持的。这一想法允许一个更动态的大脑功能理论，但到目前为止，基本上还没有得到检验。额叶的一个区域被称为前额叶皮质，被认为对工作记忆的维持特别重要。这项研究的第一步是确定大脑过程，使这一区域的神经通路像思维本身一样迅速适应。工作记忆的基本神经生理学原理将通过分析来自前额叶皮质的大规模细胞记录数据库来建立。这项国际合作研究将利用世界各地领先机构十多年的研究成果，最终形成一个规模空前的数据库，以解决迄今为止超出个别实验范围的基本问题。同时，我们还将研究在接受手术前神经监测的患者中测量的大脑活动。这为直接从人脑测量高级思维过程提供了一个令人兴奋的机会。访问这些独特的数据集将使我们能够通过测试如何根据不断变化的记忆需求灵活地建立和删除通路，来分析前额叶网络是如何为工作记忆配置的。这项研究还将为人类认知中的能力限制提供新的线索。人们通常认为，在工作记忆中保持信息的能力限制了对广泛认知需求的表现。然而，这项新研究可能会提供另一种解释。容量限制可能与获取存储在大脑连接中的信息相关的挑战更密切。这提出了一个耐人寻味的建议，即认知能力的限制并不是受我们能记住的信息量的限制，而是我们如何使用这些信息。记忆能力的个体差异与一般智力的标准测量以及现实世界中学术进步和职业成功的测量密切相关。对调节这一核心认知功能的基本神经生理学有更深入的了解，这可能对总体上提高心理能力具有广泛的意义。

项目成果

Testing sensory evidence against mnemonic templates.

测试针对助记符模板的感觉证据。

• DOI: 10.7554/elife.09000
• 发表时间: 2015-12-14
• 期刊: eLife
• 影响因子: 7.7
• 作者: Myers NE;Rohenkohl G;Wyart V;Woolrich MW;Nobre AC;Stokes MG
• 通讯作者: Stokes MG

A common neural network architecture for visual search and working memory

用于视觉搜索和工作记忆的通用神经网络架构

• DOI: 10.1080/13506285.2020.1825142
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Visual Cognition
• 影响因子: 2
• 作者: Bocincova A

Integrating reward information for prospective behaviour

整合预期行为的奖励信息

• DOI: 10.1101/2021.03.30.437719
• 发表时间: 2021
• 作者: Hall-McMaster S

Reward boosts neural coding of task rules to optimise cognitive flexibility

奖励促进任务规则的神经编码，以优化认知灵活性

• DOI: 10.1101/578468
• 发表时间: 2019
• 作者: Hall-McMaster S

Integrating Reward Information for Prospective Behavior.

整合未来行为的奖励信息。

• DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1113-21.2021
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
• 作者: Hall-McMaster S