Interaction between a verbal working memory network and the medial temporal lobe

• Autor(a) principal: Petersson, Karl Magnus
• Data de Publicação: 2006
• Outros Autores: Gisselgard, Jens, Gretzer, Monica, Ingvar, Martin
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/11236
• topic: Short term memory; Domain specific interference; Human frontal cortex; Irrelevant speech; Recognition memory; Unattended speech; Entorhinal cortex; Articulatory suppression; Statistical limitations; Functional activation

The irrelevant speech effect illustrates that sounds that are irrelevant to a visually presented short-term memory task still interfere with neuronal function. In the present study we explore the functional and effective connectivity of such interference. The functional connectivity analysis suggested an interaction between the level of irrelevant speech and the correlation between in particular the left superior temporal region, associated with verbal working memory, and the left medial temporal lobe. Based on this psycho-physiological interaction, and to broaden the understanding of this result, we performed a network analysis, using a simple network model for verbal working memory, to analyze its interaction with the medial temporal lobe memory system. The results showed dissociations in terms of network interactions between frontal as well as parietal and temporal areas in relation to the medial temporal lobe. The results of the present study suggest that a transition from phonological loop processing towards an engagement of episodic processing might take place during the processing of interfering irrelevant sounds. We speculate that, in response to the irrelevant sounds, this reflects a dynamic shift in processing as suggested by a closer interaction between a verbal working memory system and the medial temporal lobe memory system. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.