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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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2013-01-01
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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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issn | 1932-6203 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-12-23T13:32:19Z |
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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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