Eye movement suppression interferes with construction of object-centered spatial reference frames in working memory

TY - JOUR

T1 - Eye movement suppression interferes with construction of object-centered spatial reference frames in working memory

AU - Wallentin, Mikkel

AU - Kristensen, Line Burholt

AU - Olsen, Jacob Hedeager

AU - Nielsen, Andreas Højlund

PY - 2011

Y1 - 2011

N2 - The brain's frontal eye fields (FEF), responsible for eye movement control, are known to be involved in spatial working memory (WM). In a previous fMRI experiment (Wallentin, Roepstorff & Burgess, Neuropsychologia, 2008) it was found that FEF activation was primarily related to the formation of an object-centered, rather than egocentric, spatial reference frame. In this behavioralexperiment we wanted to demonstrate a causal relationship between eye movement control and manipulation of spatial reference frames. Sixty two participants recalled either spatial ("Was X in front of Y?") or non-spatial ("Was X darker than Y?") relations in a previously shown image containing two to four objects, each with an intrinsic orientation and unique luminance. During half of all recall trials a moving visual stimulus was presented, which participants had to ignore, thus suppressing eye movement. Response times were significantly slower for spatial relations with distraction while there was no effect on non-spatial relations. There was no effect on accuracy, i.e. WM maintenance. This isconsistent with the hypothesis that in spatial representations the FEFs are involved in WM content manipulation, such as establishing an object-centered spatial frame of reference.

AB - The brain's frontal eye fields (FEF), responsible for eye movement control, are known to be involved in spatial working memory (WM). In a previous fMRI experiment (Wallentin, Roepstorff & Burgess, Neuropsychologia, 2008) it was found that FEF activation was primarily related to the formation of an object-centered, rather than egocentric, spatial reference frame. In this behavioralexperiment we wanted to demonstrate a causal relationship between eye movement control and manipulation of spatial reference frames. Sixty two participants recalled either spatial ("Was X in front of Y?") or non-spatial ("Was X darker than Y?") relations in a previously shown image containing two to four objects, each with an intrinsic orientation and unique luminance. During half of all recall trials a moving visual stimulus was presented, which participants had to ignore, thus suppressing eye movement. Response times were significantly slower for spatial relations with distraction while there was no effect on non-spatial relations. There was no effect on accuracy, i.e. WM maintenance. This isconsistent with the hypothesis that in spatial representations the FEFs are involved in WM content manipulation, such as establishing an object-centered spatial frame of reference.

U2 - 10.1016/j.bandc.2011.08.015

DO - 10.1016/j.bandc.2011.08.015

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 21907479

SN - 0278-2626

VL - 77

SP - 432

EP - 437

JO - Brain and Cognition

JF - Brain and Cognition

ER -