dissociating the neural correlates of intra-item and inter-item working-memory binding游离intra-item和项间工作记忆的神经关联绑定.pdfVIP

Dissociating the Neural Correlates of Intra-Item and Inter-Item Working-Memory Binding 1,2 1 ´ ´ 1,3 1,4 Carinne Piekema , Mark Rijpkema , Guillen Fernandez , Roy P. C. Kessels * 1 Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 2 Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom, 3 Department of Neurology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 4 Departments of Medical Psychology and Geriatric Medicine, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Abstract Background: Integration of information streams into a unitary representation is an important task of our cognitive system. Within working memory, the medial temporal lobe (MTL) has been conceptually linked to the maintenance of bound representations. In a previous fMRI study, we have shown that the MTL is indeed more active during working-memory maintenance of spatial associations as compared to non-spatial associations or single items. There are two explanations for this result, the mere presence of the spatial component activates the MTL, or the MTL is recruited to bind associations between neurally non-overlapping representations. Methodology/Principal Findings: The current fMRI study investigates this issue further by directly comparing intrinsic intra- item binding (object/colour), extrinsic intra-item binding (object/location), and inter-item binding (object/object). The three binding conditions resulted in differential activation of brain regions. Specifically, we show that the MTL is important for establishing extrinsic intra-item associations and inter-item a