Individual capacity differences predict working memory performance and prefrontal activity following dopamine receptor stimulation
Open accessAbstract
Dopamine receptors are abundant in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), a critical region involved in working memory. This pharmacological fMRI study tested the relationships between dopamine, PFC function, and individual differences in working memory capacity. Subjects performed a verbal delayed-recognition task after taking either the dopamine receptor agonist bromocriptine or a placebo. Behavioral effects of bromocriptine treatment depended on subjects' working memory spans, with the greatest behavioral benefit for lower span subjects. After bromocriptine, PFC activity was positively correlated with a measure of cognitive efficiency (RT slope) during the probe period of the task. Less efficient subjects with slower memory retrieval rates had greater PFC activity, whereas more efficient subjects had less activity. After placebo, these measures were uncorrelated. These results support the role of dopamine in verbal working memory and suggest that dopamine may modulate the efficiency of retrieval of items from the contents of working memory. Individual differences in PFC dopamine receptor concentration may thus underlie the behavioral effects of dopamine stimulation on working memory function.
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Baseline working memory span has been positively correlated with dopamine synthesis capacity in basal ganglia and predicted the effect of dopaminergic manipulations on working memory.
“first, baseline WM span was considered, as it has been positively correlated with dopamine synthesis capacity in BG (Cools, Gibbs, Miyakawa, Jagust, & D’Esposito, 2008) and predicted the effect of dopaminergic manipulations on WM (Frank & O’Reilly, 2006; Gibbs & D’Esposito, 2005b).”
From Baseline-dependent effect of dopamine’s precursor L-tyrosine on working memory gating but not updating (2020) · cites this paper as Gibbs & D’Esposito, 2005b
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- Authors
- GIBBS, S. E. B., & D'ESPOSITO, M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Corresponding author
- GIBBS, S. E. B.
- Venue
- Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience
- Published
- 2005-06-01
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 212-221
- ISSN
- 1530-7026 (ISSN-L)
- 1531-135X
- OpenAlex
- W2010213938
- Cited by
- 145
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 2.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH063901, MH 63901)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA011754, DA11754)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Keywords
- dopamine receptors, working memory, prefrontal cortex, individual differences, bromocriptine, dopamine agonists, verbal working memory, placebo effect, pharmacological fMRI
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Analysis of Variance, Arousal, Bromocriptine, Cues, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Individuality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Motor Activity, Neuropsychological Tests, Predictive Value of Tests, Reaction Time, Statistics as Topic, Time Factors, Prefrontal Cortex, Dopamine Agonists
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