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Free keywords:
Adolescent
Adult
Behavior/physiology
*Brain Mapping
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Memory, Short-Term/*physiology
Nerve Net/*anatomy & histology
Visual Cortex/*anatomy & histology
Visual Pathways/*anatomy & histology
Young Adult
cortical thickness
early visual cortex
gray matter surface size
individual differences
visual working memory
Abstract:
Despite the immense processing power of the human brain, working memory storage is severely limited, and the neuroanatomical basis of these limitations has remained elusive. Here, we show that the stable storage limits of visual working memory for over 9 s are bound by the precise gray matter volume of primary visual cortex (V1), defined by fMRI retinotopic mapping. Individuals with a bigger V1 tended to have greater visual working memory storage. This relationship was present independently for both surface size and thickness of V1 but absent in V2, V3 and for non-visual working memory measures. Additional whole-brain analyses confirmed the specificity of the relationship to V1. Our findings indicate that the size of primary visual cortex plays a critical role in limiting what we can hold in mind, acting like a gatekeeper in constraining the richness of working mental function.
