CAREER: Neural processes that influence the contents of working memory

工作记忆是一种储存和处理信息的能力，这些信息目前不存在于环境中，但存在于头脑中。理解工作记忆很重要，因为它是推理、数学、学习语言和其他涉及整合和操纵存储在记忆中的信息的认知过程的基础。 在美国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在大脑中保持重要信息的活跃，而不会在存储不重要信息时耗尽有限的记忆容量。 该项目侧重于两种能力，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，Ravizza博士和她的实验室正在研究大脑中一个名为“颞顶叶交界处”的区域的活动是否发出信号，将注意力引导到这些信息上。另一种能力是信息门，研究人员正在调查基底神经节的大脑活动是“打开大门”，让重要信息进入工作记忆，还是“关闭大门”，让无关信息从工作记忆中排除。 这两个大脑组件，注意力和门控，如何共同工作，使工作记忆容量得到有效利用，也正在研究中。 这些研究使用了功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）来观察人们在存储和回忆信息过程中的大脑活动。 除了研究健康的参与者外，对患有基底神经节功能障碍的帕金森病患者的分析还为工作记忆表现的基本机制提供了进一步的见解。 这个项目正在研究一个大脑模型，研究信息如何通过特定的大脑机制进入工作记忆。这项研究有助于解释为什么不令人兴奋的信息更容易被遗忘，以及对分散注意力的信息的注意力如何降低记忆力。理解任务相关信息在分散注意力的信息存在下的存储机制已经变得越来越重要。考虑到分散注意力的信息在工作场所、汽车和教室等环境中变得越来越普遍，这项研究的广泛影响可能是显著的。例如，社交网络（例如，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，改善记忆的策略应该针对忽略分散注意力的信息的能力，而不是试图增加绝对存储容量。这些知识有可能通过提高对分心的有害影响的认识来影响教育，并可以作为有关课堂或工作场所社交网络的知情政策的基础。 此外，对帕金森病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.