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Encoding, storage, and response preparation—Distinct EEG correlates of stimulus and action representations in working memory
Author(s) -
Schneider Daniel,
Zickerick Bianca,
Thönes Sven,
Wascher Edmund
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/psyp.13577
Subject(s) - stimulus (psychology) , psychology , electroencephalography , electrophysiology , audiology , cognitive psychology , working memory , communication , neuroscience , developmental psychology , cognition , medicine
Working memory (WM) allows for the active storage of stimulus‐ and higher level representations, such as action plans. This electroencephalography (EEG) study investigated the specific electrophysiological correlates dissociating action‐related from stimulus‐related representations in WM using three different experimental conditions based on the same stimulus material. In the experiment, a random sequence of single numbers (from 1 to 6) was presented and participants had to indicate whether the current number (N0 condition), the preceding number (N‐1 condition), or the sum of the current and the preceding number (S‐1 condition) was odd or even. Accordingly, participants had to store a stimulus representation in S‐1 and an action representation in N‐1 until the onset of the next stimulus. In the EEG, the storage of stimulus representations (S‐1) was reflected by a fronto‐central slow wave indicating the rehearsal of information that was required for the response in the following trial. In contrast, the storage of action representations (N‐1) went along with a posterior positive slow wave, suggesting that the action plan was actively stored in WM until the presentation of the next stimulus. Crucially, preparing for the next response in N‐1 was associated with increased contralateral mu/beta suppression, predicting the response time in the given trial. Our findings, thus, show that the WM processes for stimulus‐ and action representations can be clearly dissociated from each other with a distinct sequence of EEG correlates for encoding, storage, and response preparation.