Two recent PET scanning studies have revealed the anatomical basis of the verbal and visual subsystems of working memory. The term 'working memory' refers to the system responsible for the temporary maintenance of information~nec-essary for performing such cognitive tasks as reasoning, understanding and learning. Evidence from a range of studies based on the functioning of working memory in nor...

Cognitive control is critical for efficiently using the limited resources in working memory. It is well established that humans use rehearsal to increase the probability of remembering needed information, but little is known in nonhumans, with some studies reporting the absence of active control and others subject to alternative explanations. We trained monkeys in a visual matching-to-sample pa...

Much is known about practice-induced plasticity of the motor system. But it is not clear how a physical training influences the mental rehearsal of the practiced task and its associated hemodynamic responses. In the present longitudinal study with two measurement time-points, we used the method of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a motor imagery task, in order to explore the dyn...

Inattentive behavior is considered a core and pervasive feature of ADHD; however, an alternative model challenges this premise and hypothesizes a functional relationship between working memory deficits and inattentive behavior. The current study investigated whether inattentive behavior in children with ADHD is functionally related to the domain-general central executive and/or subsidiary stora...

Rehearsal in human spatial working memory is accomplished, in part, via covert shifts of spatial selective attention to memorized locations ("attention-based rehearsal"). We addressed two outstanding questions about attention-based rehearsal: the topography of the attention-based rehearsal effect, and the mechanism by which it operates. Using event-related fMRI and a procedure that randomized t...

Retention after rapid overt rehearsal was assessed in two experiments. In the first, 20-word lists were presented as four sets of five words alternating with delay intervals. Recall of items from terminal serial positions was higher when delays were either silent or filled with overt rehearsal than when delays were filled with number subtraction. However, overt rehearsal produced the poorest re...

A flight simulator and a computer-generated depiction of an environment with both natural and cultural features were used to teach and test navigation knowledge. Conditions of guided rehearsal, unguided rehearsal, and map study were used to familiarize participants with the navigation environment. A subsequent route-following test of navigation knowledge in the simulated environment showed that...

Three experiments investigated the role of working memory in various aspects of thinking in chess. Experiment 1 examined the immediate memory for briefly presented chess positions from master games in players from a wide range of abilities, following the imposition of various secondary tasks designed to block separate components of working memory. Suppression of the articulatory loop (by preven...

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) offers a powerful new technique for investigating the distinct contributions of the cortical language areas. We have used this method to examine the role of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in phonological processing and verbal working memory. Functional neuroimaging studies have implicated the posterior part of the left IFG in both phono...