Are visual representations in the human early visual cortex necessary for visual working memory (VWM)? Previous studies suggest that VWM is underpinned by distributed representations across several brain regions, including the early visual cortex. Notably, in these studies, participants had to memorize images under consistent visual conditions. However, in our daily lives, we must retain the essential visual properties of objects despite changes in illumination or viewpoint. The role of brain regions—particularly the early visual cortices—in these situations remains unclear. The present study investigated whether the early visual cortex was essential for achieving stable VWM. Focusing on VWM for object surface properties, we conducted fMRI experiments, while male and female participants performed a delayed roughness discrimination task in which sample and probe spheres were presented under varying illumination. By applying multi-voxel pattern analysis to brain activity in regions of interest, we found that the ventral visual cortex and intraparietal sulcus were involved in roughness VWM under changing illumination conditions. In contrast, VWM was not supported as robustly by the early visual cortex. These findings show that visual representations in the early visual cortex alone are insufficient for the robust roughness VWM representation required during changes in illumination.

人类早期视觉皮层中的视觉表征对于视觉工作记忆 (VWM) 是必需的吗？先前的研究表明，VWM 是由多个大脑区域（包括早期视觉皮层）的分布式表征支撑的。值得注意的是，在这些研究中，参与者必须在一致的视觉条件下记住图像。然而，在我们的日常生活中，尽管光照或视角发生变化，我们仍必须保留物体的基本视觉属性。大脑区域（尤其是早期视觉皮层）在这些情况下的作用仍不清楚。本研究调查了早期视觉皮层对于实现稳定的 VWM 是否至关重要。针对物体表面特性的 VWM，我们进行了功能磁共振成像实验，而男性和女性参与者执行了延迟粗糙度辨别任务，其中样本和探针球体在不同的照明下呈现。通过对感兴趣区域的大脑活动应用多体素模式分析，我们发现腹侧视觉皮层和顶内沟在变化的光照条件下参与粗糙度 VWM。相比之下，VWM 没有得到早期视觉皮层的有力支持。这些发现表明，仅早期视觉皮层中的视觉表征不足以满足光照变化期间所需的鲁棒粗糙度 VWM 表征。