Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Mar 27:9:401.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00401. eCollection 2018.

Working Memory From the Psychological and Neurosciences Perspectives: A Review

Affiliations
Review

Working Memory From the Psychological and Neurosciences Perspectives: A Review

Wen Jia Chai et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Since the concept of working memory was introduced over 50 years ago, different schools of thought have offered different definitions for working memory based on the various cognitive domains that it encompasses. The general consensus regarding working memory supports the idea that working memory is extensively involved in goal-directed behaviors in which information must be retained and manipulated to ensure successful task execution. Before the emergence of other competing models, the concept of working memory was described by the multicomponent working memory model proposed by Baddeley and Hitch. In the present article, the authors provide an overview of several working memory-relevant studies in order to harmonize the findings of working memory from the neurosciences and psychological standpoints, especially after citing evidence from past studies of healthy, aging, diseased, and/or lesioned brains. In particular, the theoretical framework behind working memory, in which the related domains that are considered to play a part in different frameworks (such as memory's capacity limit and temporary storage) are presented and discussed. From the neuroscience perspective, it has been established that working memory activates the fronto-parietal brain regions, including the prefrontal, cingulate, and parietal cortices. Recent studies have subsequently implicated the roles of subcortical regions (such as the midbrain and cerebellum) in working memory. Aging also appears to have modulatory effects on working memory; age interactions with emotion, caffeine and hormones appear to affect working memory performances at the neurobiological level. Moreover, working memory deficits are apparent in older individuals, who are susceptible to cognitive deterioration. Another younger population with working memory impairment consists of those with mental, developmental, and/or neurological disorders such as major depressive disorder and others. A less coherent and organized neural pattern has been consistently reported in these disadvantaged groups. Working memory of patients with traumatic brain injury was similarly affected and shown to have unusual neural activity (hyper- or hypoactivation) as a general observation. Decoding the underlying neural mechanisms of working memory helps support the current theoretical understandings concerning working memory, and at the same time provides insights into rehabilitation programs that target working memory impairments from neurophysiological or psychological aspects.

Keywords: brain; central executive; cognition; neuroscience; prefrontal cortex; psychology; review; working memory.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
A simplified depiction (adapted from the multicomponent working memory model by Baddeley, 2010) as implicated in the brain, in which the central executive assumes the role to exert control and oversee the manipulation of incoming information for intended execution. ACC, Anterior cingulate cortex.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Andersen R. A., Cui H. (2009). Review intention, action planning, and decision making in parietal-frontal circuits. Neuron 63 568–583. 10.1016/j.neuron.2009.08.028 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Anderson V., Catroppa C. (2007). Memory outcome at 5 years post-childhood traumatic brain injury. Brain Inj. 21 1399–1409. 10.1080/02699050701785070 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Arendash G. W., Schleif W., Rezai-Zadeh K., Jackson E. K., Zacharia L. C., Cracchiolo J. R., et al. (2006). Caffeine protects Alzheimer’s mice against cognitive impairment and reduces brain β-amyloid production. Neuroscience 142 941–952. 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2006.07.021 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ashkenazi S., Rosenberg-lee M., Metcalfe A. W. S., Swigart A. G., Menon V. (2013). Neuropsychologia visuo – spatial working memory is an important source of domain-general vulnerability in the development of arithmetic cognition. Neuropsychologia 51 2305–2317. 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.06.031 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baars B. J., Franklin S. (2003). How conscious experience and working memory interact. Trends Cogn. Sci. 7 166–172. 10.1016/S1364-6613(03)00056-1 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources