2025 Hyper Recent •CC0 1.0 Universal

This work is dedicated to the public domain. No rights reserved.

Access Preprint From Server
July 3rd, 2025
Version: 1
University of Maryland
neuroscience
biorxiv

Features fade, pointers persist: dissociable parietal mechanisms in visual working memory formation and maintenance

Yu, X.Open in Google Scholar•Lau, E.Open in Google Scholar

An emerging body of work has adopted the theoretical construct of pointers: an object is mentally represented by a content-free pointer binding the corresponding features together. Indeed, fMRI studies have highlighted dissociable parietal regions sensitive to pointer and feature load respectively. Specifically, while the superior IPS (intraparietal sulcus) is sensitive to feature load, inferior IPS is only sensitive to the number of pointers - i.e., the number of objects. However, the spatiotemporal dynamics remain unclear, and therefore it is unknown whether these effects reflect visual working memory (VWM) formation, maintenance, or both, especially given limited temporal resolution of fMRI. In our current MEG (magnetoencephalography) study, participants memorized visual arrays with different numbers of objects (object/pointer load: two, four), as well as different features and feature-per-object (color, orientation, bifeatural) in a VWM task. We observed a dissociation between inferior and superior IPS in the temporal dynamics of feature-sensitive and pointer-sensitive responses. While pointer-sensitive signals persisted across VWM formation and maintenance in inferior IPS, feature-sensitivity was only transiently manifested during VWM formation in superior IPS. This spatiotemporal dissociation may reflect a representational architecture optimized for efficiency, reducing the need for sustained neural activity to maintain features once they are bound to pointers. In revealing the spatiotemporal profile of pointer and feature representations, our results provide novel evidence on how pointers underlie energy-efficient neural representations in VWM.

Similar Papers

biorxiv
Thu Jul 03 2025
Altered basal forebrain regulation of intrinsic brain networks in depressive and anxiety disorders
Depressive and anxiety disorders are marked by changes both within and between the default mode (DMN) and salience networks. Recent work has highlighted the importance of subcortical regions, including subdivisions of the basal forebrain, in coordinating the activity of these intrinsic networks. However, the precise influence of these basal forebrain subregions in healthy individuals, and whether ...
Jamieson, A. J.
•
Steward, T.
•
Davey, C. G.
•
Ince, S.
...•
Harrison, B. J.
biorxiv
Thu Jul 03 2025
Jaxley: Differentiable simulation enables large-scale training of detailed biophysical models of neural dynamics
Biophysical neuron models provide insights into cellular mechanisms underlying neural computations. However, a central challenge has been the question of how to identify the parameters of detailed biophysical models such that they match physiological measurements at scale or such that they perform computational tasks. Here, we describe a framework for simulation of detailed biophysical models in n...
Deistler, M.
•
Kadhim, K. L.
•
Pals, M.
•
Beck, J.
...•
Macke, J. H.
biorxiv
Thu Jul 03 2025
Auditory deviants evoke cortical state changes under anesthesia
Context-dependent sensory processing within the predictive coding framework relies on detecting mismatches between incoming stimuli and internal predictive models. Sensory deviants elicit prediction errors, seen as enhanced neural responses, that update these models and influence attention and behavior. Although prediction errors have been widely observed across the brain, the downstream processes...
Bohorquez, L. H.
•
Malmierca, M. S.
•
Hockley, A.
biorxiv
Thu Jul 03 2025
EFMouse: a toolbox to model stimulation-induced electric fields in the mouse brain
Research into the mechanisms underlying neuromodulation by tES using in-vivo animal models is key to overcoming experimental limitations in humans and essential to building a detailed understanding of the in-vivo consequences of tES. Insights from such animal models are needed to develop targeted and effective therapeutic applications of non-invasive brain stimulation in humans. The sheer differen...
Sanchez-Romero, R.
•
Akyuz, S.
•
Krekelberg, B.
biorxiv
Thu Jul 03 2025
Multi-task machine learning reveals the functional neuroanatomy fingerprint of mental processing
Mental processing delineates the functions of human mind encompassing a wide range of motor, sensory, emotional, and cognitive processes, each of which is underlain by the neuroanatomical substrates. Identifying accurate representation of functional neuroanatomy substrates of mental processing could inform understanding of its neural mechanism. The challenge is that it is unclear whether a specifi...
Wang, Z.
•
Chen, Y.
•
Pan, Y.
•
Yan, J.
...•
Jiang, X.
biorxiv
Thu Jul 03 2025
Mammals, birds and reptiles evolved with signature proportions of numbers of neurons across their brain structures
Modern mammals, birds, and reptiles (squamates, turtles and crocodiles) share their developmental and evolutionary origins in the ancestral, stem amniotes of 300 million years ago. This study explores how the brains of amniotes diverged in their neuronal composition. The systematic analysis of a large dataset on the cellular composition of the major parts of the brain of 242 amniote species shows ...
Herculano-Houzel, S.
biorxiv
Thu Jul 03 2025
Oxytocin neurons signal state-dependent transitions from rest to thermogenesis and behavioral arousal in social and non-social settings
Core body temperature (Tb) is defended within narrow limits through thermoregulatory behaviors like huddling, nesting, and physical activity as well as autonomic responses like brown fat thermogenesis and peripheral vasodilation. While Tb displays regulated fluctuations across different behavioral states and rest/arousal cycles, the neural control of these transitions is poorly understood. Here, w...
Vandendoren, M.
•
Landen, J. G.
•
Rogers, J. F.
•
Killmer, S.
...•
Nelson, A. C.
biorxiv
Thu Jul 03 2025
Soleus H-Reflex Up-Conditioning during Sciatic Nerve Regeneration in Rats Improves Recovery of Locomotion
Operant conditioning of the spinal stretch reflex or its electrical analog, the H-reflex, induces plasticity in the brain and spinal cord that increases (up-conditioning) or decreases (down-conditioning) the reflex elicited by primary afferent input to the spinal motoneuron. In rats in which the sciatic nerve is transected and repaired, soleus (SOL) H-reflex up-conditioning during regeneration str...
Chen, Y.
•
Wang, Y.
•
Chen, L.
•
Yang, X.
...•
Wolpaw, J. R.
biorxiv
Thu Jul 03 2025
Hair Bundle Degeneration is a Key Contributor to Age-Related Vestibular Dysfunction
Age-related vestibular dysfunction (ARVD) is a prevalent, debilitating condition in the elderly. The etiology and molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. We focused on mechanosensitive hair cells (HCs) as they are vulnerable to aging. Using single-cell RNA-seq transcriptomes of young and old mouse vestibular HCs, we show that aging vestibular HCs display both universal molecular signatures, su...
Kulasooriya, S.
•
Liu, H.
•
Vijayakumar, S.
•
Bloom, C.
...•
He, D. Z.
biorxiv
Thu Jul 03 2025
Resistance of E2F4DN to p38MAPK phosphorylation attenuates DNA damage-induced neuronal death via Cited2
E2F4 is a transcription factor that supports cellular homeostasis and serves as a substrate for the stress-activated kinase p38MAPK, which phosphorylates it at a conserved Thr248/Thr250 motif. A non-phosphorylatable mutant, E2F4DN (Thr248Ala/Thr250Ala), has shown therapeutic efficacy in a murine model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We hypothesized that phosphorylation of E2F4 disrupts its protective...
Llabres-Mas, A. M.
•
Lopez-Sanchez, N.
•
Garrido-Garcia, A.
•
Cano-Daganzo, V.
•
Frade, J. M.