ABSTRACT

The ability to selectively encode relevant information (filtering ability) is crucial to make best use of the severely limited space that visual working memory (VWM) provides. This review considers why filtering ability is important, how it is measured, and it discusses how filtering might be implemented computationally at the cognitive and neuronal level. Based on theoretical considerations, we explore the possibility that filtering ability involves not only the suppression of irrelevant, but also the enhancement of relevant information – functions that might be implemented by different brain mechanisms; and we review behavioural and electrophysiological data in light of the various resulting model versions. We also highlight that filtering is better understood as coordinated brain network activity, rather than being the function of a single region. Broadcasting of control signals from prefrontal cortex appears critical in upholding information in posterior cortical areas in the absence of distractors. The very same ability might also support selective processing of relevant information in the presence of distractors. These ideas provide a novel explanation for the relation between filtering ability and VWM capacity and thereby (re-)establish a central role of filtering ability in general VWM functioning.

摘要

选择性编码相关信息的能力（过滤能力）对于充分利用视觉工作记忆库（VWM）严重受限的空间至关重要提供。这篇综述考虑了为什么过滤能力很重要，如何对其进行测量，并讨论了如何在认知和神经元水平上通过计算来实现过滤。基于理论上的考虑，我们探讨了过滤能力不仅涉及无关紧要的抑制，而且涉及相关信息的增强的可能性，这些功能可能由不同的大脑机制来实现；并且我们会根据各种模型结果来审查行为和电生理数据。我们还强调，更好地将过滤理解为协调的大脑网络活动，而不是单个区域的功能。在没有干扰物的情况下，前额皮层控制信号的广播对于维持后皮层区域的信息至关重要。同样的功能也可能支持在存在干扰因素的情况下对相关信息进行选择性处理。这些想法为过滤能力和VWM能力之间的关系提供了新颖的解释，从而（重新）确立了过滤能力在一般VWM功能中的核心作用。