The frontal eye fields limit the capacity of visual short-term memory in rhesus monkeys.

The frontal eye fields (FEF) in rhesus monkeys have been implicated in visual short-term memory (VSTM) as well as control of visual attention. Here we examined the importance of the area in the VSTM capacity and the relationship between VSTM and attention, using the chemical inactivation technique a...

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Main Authors: Kyoung-Min Lee, Kyung-Ha Ahn
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3598708?pdf=render
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author Kyoung-Min Lee
Kyung-Ha Ahn
author_facet Kyoung-Min Lee
Kyung-Ha Ahn
author_sort Kyoung-Min Lee
collection DOAJ
description The frontal eye fields (FEF) in rhesus monkeys have been implicated in visual short-term memory (VSTM) as well as control of visual attention. Here we examined the importance of the area in the VSTM capacity and the relationship between VSTM and attention, using the chemical inactivation technique and multi-target saccade tasks with or without the need of target-location memory. During FEF inactivation, serial saccades to targets defined by color contrast were unaffected, but saccades relying on short-term memory were impaired when the target count was at the capacity limit of VSTM. The memory impairment was specific to the FEF-coded retinotopic locations, and subject to competition among targets distributed across visual fields. These results together suggest that the FEF plays a crucial role during the entry of information into VSTM, by enabling attention deployment on targets to be remembered. In this view, the memory capacity results from the limited availability of attentional resources provided by FEF: The FEF can concurrently maintain only a limited number of activations to register the targets into memory. When lesions render part of the area unavailable for activation, the number would decrease, further reducing the capacity of VSTM.
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spelling doaj.art-d1e5265fcd6345f9bee225a3d6f278d02022-12-21T17:45:07ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032013-01-0183e5960610.1371/journal.pone.0059606The frontal eye fields limit the capacity of visual short-term memory in rhesus monkeys.Kyoung-Min LeeKyung-Ha AhnThe frontal eye fields (FEF) in rhesus monkeys have been implicated in visual short-term memory (VSTM) as well as control of visual attention. Here we examined the importance of the area in the VSTM capacity and the relationship between VSTM and attention, using the chemical inactivation technique and multi-target saccade tasks with or without the need of target-location memory. During FEF inactivation, serial saccades to targets defined by color contrast were unaffected, but saccades relying on short-term memory were impaired when the target count was at the capacity limit of VSTM. The memory impairment was specific to the FEF-coded retinotopic locations, and subject to competition among targets distributed across visual fields. These results together suggest that the FEF plays a crucial role during the entry of information into VSTM, by enabling attention deployment on targets to be remembered. In this view, the memory capacity results from the limited availability of attentional resources provided by FEF: The FEF can concurrently maintain only a limited number of activations to register the targets into memory. When lesions render part of the area unavailable for activation, the number would decrease, further reducing the capacity of VSTM.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3598708?pdf=render
spellingShingle Kyoung-Min Lee
Kyung-Ha Ahn
The frontal eye fields limit the capacity of visual short-term memory in rhesus monkeys.
PLoS ONE
title The frontal eye fields limit the capacity of visual short-term memory in rhesus monkeys.
title_full The frontal eye fields limit the capacity of visual short-term memory in rhesus monkeys.
title_fullStr The frontal eye fields limit the capacity of visual short-term memory in rhesus monkeys.
title_full_unstemmed The frontal eye fields limit the capacity of visual short-term memory in rhesus monkeys.
title_short The frontal eye fields limit the capacity of visual short-term memory in rhesus monkeys.
title_sort frontal eye fields limit the capacity of visual short term memory in rhesus monkeys
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3598708?pdf=render
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