Working memory has long been thought to depend on sustained firing of cortical neurons. However, single neurons showing unbroken sustained activity is rare and average population activity is often only strong near the end of a memory delay. Mark Stokes presents the intriguing hypothesis for activity-silent working memory. He suggests that working memory depends on patterns of functional connectivity between neurons, not sustained activity.
‘Activity-silent’working memory in prefrontal cortex: a dynamic coding framework
MG Stokes – Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2015
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Miller Lab
The Miller Lab uses experimental and theoretical approaches to study the neural basis of the high-level cognitive functions that underlie complex goal-directed behavior. ekmillerlab.mit.edu