Investigating the relationship between working memory and spatial attention.

空间注意是由外部事件控制的，称为外生注意，或由自身意图控制的，称为内生性注意。最近关于工作记忆的神经影像学研究表明，注意力控制，特别是其自愿控制是由背外侧额叶完成的，它是工作记忆的执行控制器。本研究旨在探讨空间注意与工作记忆容量之间的关系。为此，空间工作记忆任务是评估工作记忆能力，因为空间注意力是基于将注意力引导到视野空间局部区域的能力。假设空间工作记忆与内源性注意控制有关，而与外源性注意控制无关。然而，实验结果显示，空间工作记忆高的参与者的注意增益（即有效和无效即时反应的差异）相对于空间工作记忆低的参与者要低。这被解释为，那些空间工作记忆能力强的人在控制内源性注意力方面更灵活。

Spatial attention is controlled by external event, which is called exogenous attention, or internally by one's own intention, which is called endogenous attention. Recent neuroimaging studies on working memory have shown that attentional control, especially its voluntary control is performed by the dorsolateral frontal lobe, which works as an executive controller of working memory. In this research project, the relationship between spatial attention and the working memory capacity was explored. For this purpose, spatial working memory task was to assess working memory capacity because spatial attention is based on the capacity of directing attention to a spatially localized area of the visual field. It was hypothesized that spatial working memory was related to the endogenous, but not to the exogenous control of attention. However, the obtained results showed that the participants high in the spatial working memory were lower in the attentional gain (i.e., difference between valid and invalid RTs) relative to those who were lower in their spatial working memory. This was interpreted to be due to the fact that those who were high in spatial working memory were flexible in their control of endogenous attention.