Encoding into Working Memory of Spatial Location, Color, and Shape: Electrophysiological Investigations

Abstract

Event-related potentials (ERP) were recorded while subjects memorized either the location, the color or the shape of stimuli which could be located in 1 of 4 positions relative to a central fixation point (top, bottom, left or right), be of 1 of 4 positions relative to a central fixation point (top, bottom, left or right), be of 1 of 4 colors (white, green, red or blue), and present 1 of 4 shapes (triangle, cross, circle or square). These ERP were compared to ERP recorded while subjects looked at the same stimuli but performed other control, nonmemory tasks. Only ERP corresponding to the memorization of spatial location showed a differential pattern which could be specifically attributed to memory encoding processes. This reveals an important difference in ERP modulation between a working memory subsystem for spatial location and other subsystem (or subsystems) for color or shape, which would provide evidence supporting the existence of different working memory subsystems for visual information in the brain.

Key Words:

• Event-related potentials
• working memory
• spatial location
• color
• shape
• visual