Contralateral delay activity during dynamic spatial updates in working memory

Abstract

Working Memory (WM) enables us to maintain and directly manipulate mental representations, yet we know little about the neural implementation of this privileged online format. We recorded electroencephalography data as human subjects engaged in a task requiring continuous updates to the locations of objects retained in WM as well as in a visually identical task with WM demands removed. Analysis of neural data suggested WM-related contralateral delay activity reversed polarity as objects held in WM moved to the opposite hemifield. This was partially but not fully explained by visual attention demands. Thus, the cortical location of activity related to both attention and WM was updated to meet behavioral demands as the spatial location of remembered objects changed.