Re-directing attention to objects in working memory can enhance their representational fidelity. However, how this attentional enhancement of memory representations is implemented across distinct, sensory and cognitive-control brain network is unspecified. The present fMRI experiment leverages psychophysical modelling and multivariate auditory- pattern decoding as behavioral and neural proxies of mnemonic fidelity. Listeners performed an auditory syllable pitch-discrimination task and received retro-active cues to selectively attend to a to-be-probed syllable in memory. Accompanied by increased neural activation in fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular networks, valid retro-cues yielded faster and more perceptually sensitive responses in recalling acoustic detail of memorized syllables. Information about the cued auditory object was decodable from hemodynamic response patterns in superior temporal sulcus (STS), fronto-parietal, and sensorimotor regions. However, among these regions retaining auditory memory objects, neural fidelity in the left STS and its enhancement through attention-to-memory best predicted individuals’ gain in auditory memory recall precision. Our results demonstrate how functionally discrete brain regions differentially contribute to the attentional enhancement of memory representations.

中文翻译：

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听觉记忆的分布式网络对召回精度有不同的贡献

将注意力重新引导到工作记忆中的对象可以提高它们的表征保真度。然而，这种对记忆表征的注意力增强是如何在不同的、感觉和认知控制的大脑网络中实现的还不清楚。目前的 fMRI 实验利用心理物理建模和多元听觉模式解码作为记忆保真度的行为和神经代理。听众执行听觉音节音高辨别任务，并收到追溯线索，以选择性地关注记忆中待探查的音节。伴随着额顶叶和扣带盖网络中神经激活的增加，有效的追溯线索在回忆记忆音节的声学细节时产生了更快和更敏感的反应。有关提示听觉对象的信息可从颞上沟 (STS)、额顶叶和感觉运动区域的血流动力学响应模式中解码。然而，在这些保留听觉记忆对象的区域中，左侧 STS 中的神经保真度及其通过注意力到记忆的增强最能预测个体听觉记忆召回精度的提高。我们的研究结果表明，功能上离散的大脑区域如何不同地促进记忆表征的注意力增强。