Temporal characteristics of top-down modulations during working memory maintenance: An event-related potential study of the N170 component

Kartik K. Sreenivasan, Jennifer Katz, Amishi P. Jha

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We investigated the top-down influence of working memory (WM) maintenance on feedforward perceptual processing within occipito-temporal face processing structures. During event-related potential (ERP) recordings, subjects performed a delayed-recognition task requiring WM maintenance of faces or houses. The face-sensitive N170 component elicited by delay-spanning task-irrelevant grayscale noise probes was examined. If early feedforward perceptual activity is biased by maintenance requirements, the N170 ERP component elicited by probes should have a greater N170 amplitude response during face relative to house WM trials. Consistent with this prediction, N170 elicited by probes presented at the beginning, middle, and end of the delay interval was greater in amplitude during face relative to house WM. Thus, these results suggest that WM maintenance demands may modulate early feedforward perceptual processing for the entirety of the delay duration. We argue based on these results that temporally early biasing of domain-specific perceptual processing may be a critical mechanism by which WM maintenance is achieved.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1836-1844
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Cognitive Neuroscience
Volume19
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2007

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cognitive Neuroscience

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