Temporarily storing a list of items in working memory (WM), a fundamental ability in cognition, has been posited to rely on the temporal dynamics of multi-item neural representations during retention. However, the causal evidence, particularly in human subjects, is still lacking, let alone WM manipulation. Here, we develop a novel “dynamic perturbation” approach to manipulate the relative memory strength of WM items held in human brain, by presenting temporally correlated luminance sequences during retention to interfere with the multi-item neural dynamics. Six experiments on more than 150 subjects confirm the effectiveness of this WM manipulation approach. A computational model combining continuous attractor neural network (CANN) and short-term synaptic plasticity (STP) principles further reproduces all the empirical findings. The model reveals that the “dynamic perturbation” modifies the synaptic efficacies of WM items through STP principles, eventually leading to changes in their relative memory strengths. Our results support the causal role of temporal dynamics of neural network in mediating multi-item WM, and offer a promising, purely bottom-up approach to manipulate WM.

临时存储工作记忆 (WM) 中的项目列表是认知的基本能力，它被假定依赖于保留期间多项目神经表示的时间动态。然而，因果证据，特别是在人类受试者中，仍然缺乏，更不用说 WM 操纵了。在这里，我们开发了一种新的“动态扰动”方法来操纵人脑中 WM 项目的相对记忆强度，通过在保留期间呈现时间相关的亮度序列来干扰多项目神经动力学。对 150 多名受试者进行的六项实验证实了这种 WM 操作方法的有效性。结合连续吸引子神经网络 (CANN) 和短期突触可塑性 (STP) 原理的计算模型进一步重现了所有经验发现。该模型揭示了“动态扰动”通过 STP 原理改变了 WM 项目的突触功效，最终导致它们的相对记忆强度发生变化。我们的结果支持神经网络的时间动态在调解多项目 WM 中的因果作用，并提供了一种有前途的、纯自下而上的方法来操纵 WM。