Everyday tasks and goal-directed behavior involve the maintenance and continuous updating of information in working memory (WM). WM gating reflects switches between these two core states. Neurobiological considerations suggest that the catecholaminergic and the GABAergic are likely involved in these dynamics. Both of these neurotransmitter systems likely underlie the effects to auricular transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (atVNS). We examine the effects of atVNS on WM gating dynamics and their underlying neurophysiological and neurobiological processes in a randomized crossover study design in healthy humans of both sexes. We show that atVNS specifically modulates WM gate closing and thus specifically modulates neural mechanisms enabling the maintenance of information in WM. WM gate opening processes were not affected. atVNS modulates WM gate closing processes through the modulation of EEG alpha band activity. This was the case for clusters of activity in the EEG signal referring to stimulus information, motor response information, and fractions of information carrying stimulus–response mapping rules during WM gate closing. EEG-beamforming shows that modulations of activity in fronto-polar, orbital, and inferior parietal regions are associated with these effects. The data suggest that these effects are not because of modulations of the catecholaminergic (noradrenaline) system as indicated by lack of modulatory effects in pupil diameter dynamics, in the inter-relation of EEG and pupil diameter dynamics and saliva markers of noradrenaline activity. Considering other findings, it appears that a central effect of atVNS during cognitive processing refers to the stabilization of information in neural circuits, putatively mediated via the GABAergic system.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Goal-directed behavior depends on how well information in short-term memory can be flexibly updated but also on how well it can be shielded from distraction. These two functions were guarded by a working memory gate. We show how an increasingly popular brain stimulation techniques specifically enhances the ability to close the working memory gate to shield information from distraction. We show what physiological and anatomic aspects underlie these effects.

日常任务和目标导向的行为涉及工作记忆（WM）中信息的维护和持续更新。WM 门控反映了这两个核心状态之间的切换。神经生物学的考虑表明儿茶酚胺能和 GABA 能可能参与这些动力学。这两种神经递质系统可能是耳廓经皮迷走神经刺激 (atVNS) 影响的基础。我们在健康男女的随机交叉研究设计中研究了 atVNS 对 WM 门控动力学及其潜在神经生理学和神经生物学过程的影响。我们证明 atVNS 专门调节 WM 门的关闭，从而专门调节神经机制，从而能够维持 WM 中的信息。WM 浇口打开过程未受影响。atVNS 通过调节 EEG α 带活动来调节 WM 门关闭过程。EEG 信号中的活动簇就是这种情况，涉及刺激信息、运动反应信息以及 WM 门关闭期间携带刺激-反应映射规则的信息片段。脑电图波束形成表明，额极、眼眶和下顶叶区域的活动调节与这些效应有关。数据表明，这些影响并不是由于儿茶酚胺能（去甲肾上腺素）系统的调节所致，如瞳孔直径动态、脑电图和瞳孔直径动态以及去甲肾上腺素活性唾液标记物的相互关系缺乏调节作用所表明的。考虑到其他发现，

意义陈述 目标导向的行为取决于短期记忆中信息的灵活更新程度，也取决于其免受干扰的程度。这两个功能由工作记忆门保护。我们展示了一种日益流行的大脑刺激技术如何专门增强关闭工作记忆门以保护信息免受干扰的能力。我们展示了这些影响背后的生理和解剖学方面。