Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Comparing the prioritisation of items and feature-dimensions in visual working memory

View ORCID ProfileJasper E. Hajonides, View ORCID ProfileFreek van Ede, Mark G. Stokes, View ORCID ProfileAnna C. Nobre
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/863191
Jasper E. Hajonides
Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UKDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Jasper E. Hajonides
  • For correspondence: jasperhajonides@gmail.com
Freek van Ede
Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Freek van Ede
Mark G. Stokes
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Anna C. Nobre
Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UKDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Anna C. Nobre
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Selective attention can be directed not only to external sensory inputs, but also to internal sensory representations held within visual working memory (VWM). To date, this has been studied predominantly following retrospective cues directing attention to particular items, or their locations in memory. In addition to item-level attentional prioritisation, recent studies have shown that selectively attending to feature dimensions in VWM can also improve memory recall performance. However, no study to date has directly compared item-based and feature-based attention in VWM, nor their neural bases. Here, we compared the benefits of retrospective cues (retro-cues) that were directed either at a multi-feature item or at a feature-dimension that was shared between two spatially segregated items. Behavioural results revealed qualitatively similar attentional benefits in both recall accuracy and response time, but also showed that cueing benefits were larger following item cues. Concurrent EEG measurements further revealed a similar attenuation of posterior alpha oscillations following both item and feature retro-cues when compared to non-informative, neutral retro-cues. We argue that attention can act flexibly to prioritise the most relevant information – at either the item or the feature-level – to optimise ensuing memory-based task performance, and we discuss the implications of the observed commonalities and differences between item-level and feature-level prioritisation in VWM.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted December 04, 2019.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Comparing the prioritisation of items and feature-dimensions in visual working memory
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
Share
Comparing the prioritisation of items and feature-dimensions in visual working memory
Jasper E. Hajonides, Freek van Ede, Mark G. Stokes, Anna C. Nobre
bioRxiv 863191; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/863191
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Comparing the prioritisation of items and feature-dimensions in visual working memory
Jasper E. Hajonides, Freek van Ede, Mark G. Stokes, Anna C. Nobre
bioRxiv 863191; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/863191

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Neuroscience
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (1647)
  • Biochemistry (2738)
  • Bioengineering (1907)
  • Bioinformatics (10243)
  • Biophysics (4183)
  • Cancer Biology (3218)
  • Cell Biology (4538)
  • Clinical Trials (135)
  • Developmental Biology (2840)
  • Ecology (4460)
  • Epidemiology (2041)
  • Evolutionary Biology (7231)
  • Genetics (5476)
  • Genomics (6813)
  • Immunology (2388)
  • Microbiology (7483)
  • Molecular Biology (2992)
  • Neuroscience (18584)
  • Paleontology (136)
  • Pathology (472)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (780)
  • Physiology (1149)
  • Plant Biology (2706)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (680)
  • Synthetic Biology (888)
  • Systems Biology (2846)
  • Zoology (468)