Cited by 93Neural dynamics and brain functionMemory and Neural MechanismsCognitive Abilities and Testing

Peak frequency in the theta and alpha bands correlates with human working memory capacity

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Moran, Rosalyn J., Campo, Pablo, Maestu, Fernando, Reilly, Richard B., Dolan, Raymond J., Strange, Bryan A.·2010·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Abstract

Theta oscillations in the local field potential of neural ensembles are considered key mediators of human working memory. Theoretical accounts arising from animal hippocampal recordings propose that the phase of theta oscillations serves to instantiate sequential neuronal firing to form discrete representations of items held online. Human evidence of phase relationships in visual working memory has enhanced this theory, implicating long theta cycles in supporting greater memory capacity. Here we use human magnetoencephalographic recordings to examine a novel, alternative principle of theta functionality. The principle we hypothesize is derived from information theory and predicts that rather than long (low frequency) theta cycles, short (high frequency) theta cycles are best suited to support high information capacity. From oscillatory activity recorded during the maintenance period of a visual working memory task we show that a network of brain regions displays an increase in peak 4-12 Hz frequency with increasing memory load. Source localization techniques reveal that this network comprises bilateral prefrontal and right parietal cortices. Further, the peak of oscillation along this theta-alpha frequency axis is significantly higher in high capacity individuals compared to low capacity individuals. Importantly while we observe the adherence of cortical neuronal oscillations to our novel principle of theta functioning, we also observe the traditional inverse effect of low frequency theta maintaining high loads, where critically this was located in medial temporal regions suggesting parallel, dissociable hippocampal-centric, and prefrontal-centric theta mechanisms.

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  • Oscillations in neural activity appear to be involved in working memory capacity, task set and movement preparation, and separation of subsets of information currently in working memory.

    “as oscillations in neural activity appear to be involved in working memory capacity (Benchenane et al., 2011;Kaminski et al., 2011;Moran et al., 2010), task set and movement preparation (Gladwin et al., 2006(Gladwin et al., , 2008;;Gladwin and De Jong, 2005) and the separation of subsets of information currently in working memory (Lisman, 2005;Sauseng et al., 2010).”

    From Addiction, adolescence, and the integration of control and motivation (2011) · cites this paper as Moran et al., 2010

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  1. Hebb D. O. (1949). The Organization of Behavior: A neurophysiological Theory. Wiley, New York
  2. Jokisch D. Jensen O. (2007). Modulation of gamma and alpha activity during a working memory task engaging the dorsal or ventral stream. J. Neurosci. 27, 3244– 3251 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5399-06.2007 17376984 PMC6672464 · DOI
  3. Sauseng P. Klimesch W. Heise K. F. Gruber W. R. Holz E. Karim A. A. Glennon M. Gerloff C. Birbaumer N. Hummel F. (2009). Brain oscillatory substrates of visual short-term memory capacity. Curr. Biol. 19, 1846– 1852 10.1016/j.cub.2009.08.062 19913428 · DOI
  4. Vogel E. K. McCollough A. W. Machizawa M. G. (2005). Neural measures reveal individual differences in controlling access to working memory. Nature 438, 500– 503 10.1038/nature04171 16306992 · DOI

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Authors
Moran, R. J., Campo, P., Maestu, F., Reilly, R. B., Dolan, R. J., & Strange, B. A.
Affiliations
  • Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (GB)
  • Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ES)
  • Trinity College Dublin (IE)
Corresponding author
Moran, Rosalyn J.
Venue
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Published
2010
Volume
4
Pages
200-200
ISSN
1662-5161 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2091152625
Cited by
93
References
57
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 2
FWCI
2.32
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Explore Bristol Research (publishedVersion)
  • Arrow@dit (Dublin Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
  • VTechWorks (Virginia Tech) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust
  • Comunidad de Madrid
  • Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
Keywords
theta oscillations, alpha oscillations, working memory capacity, dominant frequency, local field potentials, visual working memory, memory load, prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, hippocampus, information theory, neural oscillations, source localization

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