NEURAL EFFECTS OF INTERFERENCE WITH WORKING MEMORY

提出了一系列与事件相关的功能磁共振成像(FMRI)研究工作记忆的功能神经解剖学，特别强调抑制控制作为一种执行功能。这项新技术与对已知会干扰工作记忆表现的任务参数的谨慎和精确操作一起，将被用来实现几个目标，包括：1)识别负责保护工作记忆中的信息不受皮层(PFC)的区域，这些区域负责保护工作记忆中的信息不受内部(即，源于助记表征)和外部(即，非助记、知觉分心)干扰源的影响；2)表征主动干扰的特定材料(即，语言、物体、空间)影响；以及3)描述与被维持的信息具有相同或不同材料类型的分心物的不同影响(例如，言语维持和言语分散与言语维持和空间分散)。这个项目的总体目标是精确地描述由PFC介导的神经和认知过程，这些过程支持抑制可能干扰工作记忆的不适当或无关信息的能力。

A series of event-=related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies are proposed to investigate the functional neuroanatomy of working memory, with special emphasis on inhibitory control as an executive function. This new technology, along with careful and precise manipulations of task parameters that are known to interfere with working memory performance will be used to accomplish several objectives that include: 1) identify regions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) that are responsible for the protection of information in working memory from cortex (PFC) that are responsible for the protection of information in working memory from internal (i.e., stemming from mnemonic representations) and external (i.e., stemming from non-mnemonic, perceptual distraction) sources of interference; 2) characterize the material-specific (i.e., verbal, object, spatial) effects of proactive interference; and 3) characterize the differential effects of having distractors that are of the same or different material type as the information being maintained (e.g., verbal maintenance and verbal distraction vs. verbal maintenance and spatial distraction). The overall goal of this project is to precisely characterize the neural and cognitive processes mediated by the PFC that support the ability to suppress inappropriate or irrelevant information that can interfere with working memory.