Abstract
Introduction Working memory is the cognitive process of holding information and manipulating information. Before working memory can be discussed in relation to stroke, one must first have a clear understanding of what working memory is. Notably, working memory is not synonymous with short-term memory. Short-term memory is the short-term storage of semantic, phonological, visual, or episodic information. It is short-term storage of the concept of the color red (semantic information) or the short-term storage of the word “red” in the form of a neural representation. It is also a short-term storage or representation of what is happening to you, in your own personal experience, right now (episodic information), for example, reading a sentence in a book while at home in the evening. When this information becomes permanently ingrained in the brain and can be recalled in the distant future it is called long-term memory. If short-term memory is a snapshot of a single moment in time, what bridges these single moments in time together to allow an animal to interact with the environment, such as finding food, navigating through a maze, or holding a conversation in mind? The answer is working memory. Similarly, one might recall from prior experience (i.e. long-term memory) what a red apple tree looks like, which would be important to keep in mind for the entire duration of time that it takes to navigate a forest searching for an apple. These pieces of current and prior semantic information are held in mind, in working memory, only as long as they are needed for a particular behavioral goal. The information is then stored permanently in long-term memory or is replaced with other information, at which point it is no longer a part of working memory. Critical to this distinction is that short-term memory is only a passive store (i.e. a neural representation), while working memory is the active storage and concurrent processing of information “held” in short-term memory. (Although, heuristically, information to be stored and the process of storing it are discussed separately, neurally the two are not distinguishable.)
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Title of host publication | The Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology of Stroke |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 297-311 |
Number of pages | 15 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781139058988 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781107015579 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2011 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Medicine