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Abstract:
Manipulating working memory (WM) is a central yet challenging question. Previous studies posit that WM items with varied memory strengths reactivate at different latencies, supporting a time-based mechanism. Motivated by this view, here we developed a purely bottom-up, "Leader-Follower" behavioral approach to manipulate WM in humans. Specifically, task-irrelevant, flickering color discs that are bound to each of the memorized items are presented during the delay period, and the ongoing luminance sequences of the color discs follow a "Leader-Follower" relationship, i.e., hundreds-of-millisecond temporal lag. We show that this dynamic behavioral approach leads to better memory performance for the item associated with the temporally advanced luminance sequence ("Leader") than that with the temporally lagged luminance sequence ("Follower"), yet with limited effectiveness. Taken together, our findings constitute evidence for the essential role of temporal dynamics in WM operation and offer a promising, non-invasive WM manipulation approach.
