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Cited by 1,653Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesCognitive Abilities and TestingNeurobiology of Language and Bilingualism

The Cognitive Neuroscience of Working Memory

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D'Esposito, Mark, Postle, Bradley R.·2015·Annual Review of Psychology
DOI 10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015031PMC PMC4374359
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Abstract

For more than 50 years, psychologists and neuroscientists have recognized the importance of a working memory to coordinate processing when multiple goals are active and to guide behavior with information that is not present in the immediate environment. In recent years, psychological theory and cognitive neuroscience data have converged on the idea that information is encoded into working memory by allocating attention to internal representations, whether semantic long-term memory (e.g., letters, digits, words), sensory, or motoric. Thus, information-based multivariate analyses of human functional MRI data typically find evidence for the temporary representation of stimuli in regions that also process this information in nonworking memory contexts. The prefrontal cortex (PFC), on the other hand, exerts control over behavior by biasing the salience of mnemonic representations and adjudicating among competing, context-dependent rules. The “control of the controller” emerges from a complex interplay between PFC and striatal circuits and ascending dopaminergic neuromodulatory signals.

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  • For short forms of memory, often referred to as working memory, information is stored by ongoing activity in neuronal networks.

    “There is compelling evidence that for short forms of memory, often referred to as working memory, information is stored by ongoing activity in neuronal networks (1–4).”

    From Synaptic memory and CaMKII (2023) · cites this paper as [2]

    In “Working memory at the systems level,” the paper describes persistent neural activity during working-memory delays as evidence for maintaining representations. But the same section says persistent activity may not be necessary and discusses storage through short-term changes in synaptic weights. The claim overstates the paper’s position by presenting ongoing activity as the storage mechanism without that qualification. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Authors
D'Esposito, M., & Postle, B. R.
Affiliations
  • Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720;
  • University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
Corresponding author
Postle, Bradley R.
ORCID
Postle, Bradley R.
Venue
Annual Review of Psychology
Publisher
Annual Reviews
Published
2015-01-03
Volume
66
Issue
1
Pages
115-142
ISSN
  • 0066-4308 (ISSN-L)
  • 1545-2085
DOI
10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015031
PMC
PMC4374359
OpenAlex
W2162809807
Cited by
1,653
References
15
Citations by year
2026: 135 · 2025: 151 · 2024: 193 · 2023: 189 · 2022: 144 · 2021: 148 · 2020: 127 · 2019: 135 · 2018: 115 · 2017: 115 · 2016: 84 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 15
FWCI
7.66
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Annual Review of Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH063901, R01MH064498, R01MH095984)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
Keywords
working memory, prefrontal cortex, striatum, dopaminergic modulation, attention, memory representation, functional MRI, cognitive control, executive function, goal-directed behavior
MeSH terms
Brain, Humans, Memory, Short-Term, Functional Neuroimaging

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