西班牙IDIBAPS研究所Albert Compte团队发现，前额叶皮层中持续活动与活动沉默动态之间的相互作用是工作记忆中序列偏好的基础。2020年6月22日，《自然—神经科学》杂志在线发表了这一最新研究成果。

Title: Interplay between persistent activity and activity-silent dynamics in the prefrontal cortex underlies serial biases in working memory

Author: Joao Barbosa, Heike Stein, Rebecca L. Martinez, Adri Galan-Gadea, Sihai Li, Josep Dalmau, Kirsten C. S. Adam, Josep Valls-Sol, Christos Constantinidis, Albert Compte

Issue&Volume: 2020-06-22

Abstract: Persistent neuronal spiking has long been considered the mechanism underlying working memory, but recent proposals argue for alternative ‘activity-silent’ substrates. Using monkey and human electrophysiology data, we show here that attractor dynamics that control neural spiking during mnemonic periods interact with activity-silent mechanisms in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). This interaction allows memory reactivations, which enhance serial biases in spatial working memory. Stimulus information was not decodable between trials, but remained present in activity-silent traces inferred from spiking synchrony in the PFC. Just before the new stimulus, this latent trace was reignited into activity that recapitulated the previous stimulus representation. Importantly, the reactivation strength correlated with the strength of serial biases in both monkeys and humans, as predicted by a computational model that integrates activity-based and activity-silent mechanisms. Finally, single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation applied to the human PFC between successive trials enhanced serial biases, thus demonstrating the causal role of prefrontal reactivations in determining working-memory behavior.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-020-0644-4

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-020-0644-4