Decoding the content of working memory in school-aged children

Article Article scientifique Article Decoding the content of working memory in school-aged children eng 2023-11-07 author Turoman Nora 0000-0003-2655-8259 948649 Section de psychologie (PSICO) author Fiave Prosper Agbesi 944974 Département de neurosciences fondamentales (NEUFO) author Zahnd Clélia Maureen Mathilde 940225 author DeBettencourt Megan author Vergauwe Evie 0000-0002-7339-2370 649204 Section de psychologie (PSICO) 136-152 10.1016/j.cortex.2023.10.019 0010-9452 Developmental improvements in working memory (WM) maintenance predict many realworld outcomes, including educational attainment. It is thus critical to understand which WM mechanisms support these behavioral improvements, and how WM maintenance strategies might change through development. One challenge is that specific WM neural mechanisms cannot easily be measured behaviorally, especially in a child population. However, new multivariate decoding techniques have been designed, primarily in adult populations, that can sensitively decode the contents of WM. The goal of this study was to deploy multivariate decoding techniques known to decode memory representations in adults to decode the contents of WM in children. We created a simple computerized WM game for children, in which children maintained different categories of information (visual, spatial or verbal). We collected electroencephalography (EEG) data from 20 children (7-12-year-olds) while they played the game. Using Multivariate Pattern Analysis (MVPA) on children's EEG signals, we reliably decoded the category of the maintained information during the sensory and maintenance period. Across exploratory reliability and validity analyses, we examined the robustness of these results when trained on less data, and how these patterns generalized within individuals throughout the testing session. Furthermore, these results matched theory-based predictions of WM across individuals and across ages. Our proof-of-concept study proposes a direct and age-appropriate potential alternative to exclusively behavioral WM maintenance measures in children. Our study demonstrates the utility of MVPA to measure and track the uninstructed representational content of children's WM. Future research could use our technique to investigate children's WM maintenance and strategies. Short-term memory Multivariate pattern analyses Child development Dewey 616.8 Dewey 150 108 Section de psychologie 71 53 Département de neurosciences fondamentales 21A false 1304 Mémoire de travail, cognition et développement (WoMCogDev) Cortex 171 a175d0bd-13ea-4578-8b1c-97fbee904da0 Article (Published version) Public 1-s2.0-S0010945223002769-main.pdf 2437076 application/pdf CC BY-4.0 281048db8c7f7998b7882cd61c6dd1aa51ea5600bb1b092c2fd5c5edcbaee960 2d3bd28a-6d88-48b6-969b-85900fe3d072 Article (Accepted version) Public 20230719_137_MemDecodingKids_FINAL.docx 1249926 application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document CC BY-4.0 fd6feb3dc8172d60f0429327e9b5321ccb54fb8b7bebf9b8be2a469b30e3033a openAccess Faculté de psychologie et des sciences de l'éducation / Section de psychologie Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine fondamentale / Département de neurosciences fondamentales

Title	Published in	Access level	OA Policy	Year	Views	Downloads

Decoding the content of working memory in school-aged children	Cortex			2023	104	45

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Fiave, Prosper Agbesi