Understanding how visual memory works
Working memory is a type of memory that allows information to be stored for short periods of time. It is fundamental to most of our higher cognitive processes, and its dysfunction is at the heart of a wide range of psychiatric and neurological symptoms, including schizophrenia.
The neuroscience of memory – decoded
To fully explore the representations of active memory in the brain, the team hypothesized that our brains not only discard features that are unrelated to the task, but also re-encode features. related tasks into memory formats that are both efficient and distinct from the perceptual inputs themselves.
The researchers measured the participants’ brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they performed visual working memory tasks.
It is seen that the patterns of neural activity in the visual cortex and parietal cortex – the part of the brain used to process and store memory – are interchangeable during memory, regardless of different types of visual stimuli.
“We can see the active lines on the topographic map at angles corresponding to the direction of motion and grating.” “Our visual memories are very flexible, and it’s possible that what we see in the abstract is motivated by the behaviors they instruct” Curtis said.
Source: Medindia