Universität zu Köln

Breitinger, Eva, Pokorny, Lena, Biermann, Lea, Jarczok, Tomasz A., Dundon, Neil M. ORCID: 0000-0001-6246-1775, Roessner, Veit and Bender, Stephan (2022). What makes somatosensory short-term memory maintenance effective? An EEG study comparing contralateral delay activity between sighted participants and participants who are blind. Neuroimage, 259. SAN DIEGO: ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE. ISSN 1095-9572

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Abstract

Somatosensory short-term memory is essential for object recognition, sensorimotor learning, and, especially, Braille reading for people who are blind. This study examined how visual sensory deprivation and a compensatory focus on somatosensory information influences memory processes in this domain. We measured slow cortical negativity developing during short-term tactile memory maintenance (tactile contralateral delay activity, tCDA) in frontal and somatosensory areas while a sample of 24 sighted participants and 22 participants who are blind completed a tactile change-detection task where varying loads of Braille pin patterns served as stimuli. Auditory cues, appearing at varying latencies between sample arrays, could be used to reduce memory demands during maintenance. Participants who are blind (trained Braille readers) outperformed sighted participants behaviorally. In addition, while task-related frontal activation featured in both groups, participants who are blind uniquely showed higher tCDA amplitudes specifically over somatosensory areas. The site specificity of this component's functional relevance in short-term memory maintenance was further supported by somatosensory tCDA amplitudes first correlating across the whole sample with behavioral performance, and secondly showing sensitivity to varying memory load. The results substantiate sensory recruitment models and provide new insights into the effects of visual sensory deprivation on tactile processing. Between-group differences in the interplay between frontal and somatosensory areas during somatosensory maintenance also suggest that efficient maintenance of complex tactile stimuli in short-term memory is primarily facilitated by lateralized activity in somatosensory cortex.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Breitinger, Eva UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Pokorny, Lena UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Biermann, Lea UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Jarczok, Tomasz A. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Dundon, Neil M. UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0001-6246-1775 UNSPECIFIED Roessner, Veit UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Bender, Stephan UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-687733
DOI:	10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119407
Journal or Publication Title:	Neuroimage
Volume:	259
Date:	2022
Publisher:	ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
Place of Publication:	SAN DIEGO
ISSN:	1095-9572
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language VENTROLATERAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX; WORKING-MEMORY; ELECTROMAGNETIC TOMOGRAPHY; ATTENTIONAL BLINK; SPATIAL ATTENTION; NEURAL ACTIVITY; TIME-COURSE; LONG-TERM; BRAIN; EVENT Multiple languages Neurosciences; Neuroimaging; Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/68773