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Output Planning at the Input Stage: Action Imprinting for Future Memory-Guided Behaviour

30 Pages Posted: 12 Mar 2020 Publication Status: Review Complete

See all articles by Sage E.P. Boettcher

Sage E.P. Boettcher

University of Oxford - Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity

Daniela Gresch

University of Oxford - Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity

Anna C Nobre

Yale University; University of Oxford

Freek van Ede

University of Oxford - Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity

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Abstract

Working memory serves as the buffer between past sensations and future behaviour, making it vital to understand not only how we encode and retain information in memory but also how we plan for its upcoming use. We ask when prospective action goals emerge alongside the encoding and retention of detailed sensory information in working memory – whether future action plans emerge gradually during memory delays, or are brought into memory early, in tandem with sensory encoding. To address this, we tracked neural planning for prospective actions in a working-memory task in which detailed visual shape information was linked to specific manual actions after a delay. We show that prospective action plans in human motor cortex emerge early alongside the selective encoding of visual information into memory. This ‘action imprinting’ (1) precedes a second stage of action preparation that adapts to the time of expected memory utilisation, (2) occurs even in face of an intervening motor task, and (3) predicts visual-memory-guided behaviour several seconds later. By bringing prospective action plans into working memory at an early stage, the brain creates a dual (visual-motor) memory code that can make memories more effective and robust for serving future behaviour.

Keywords: Working memory, Action planning, attention, Prospection, Vision, Gating, Behaviour

Suggested Citation

Boettcher, Sage E.P. and Gresch, Daniela and Nobre, Anna C and van Ede, Freek, Output Planning at the Input Stage: Action Imprinting for Future Memory-Guided Behaviour. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3550240 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3550240
This version of the paper has not been formally peer reviewed.

Sage E.P. Boettcher

University of Oxford - Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity

Warneford Hospital
Oxford, OX3 7JX
United Kingdom

Daniela Gresch

University of Oxford - Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity

Warneford Hospital
Oxford, OX3 7JX
United Kingdom

Anna C Nobre

Yale University ( email )

493 College St
New Haven, CT CT 06520
United States

HOME PAGE: http://brainandcognition.org/

University of Oxford ( email )

Wu Tsai Institute and Psychology Department
Yale University
New Haven, CT 06510
United States

HOME PAGE: http://brainandcognition.org/

Freek Van Ede (Contact Author)

University of Oxford - Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity ( email )

Warneford Hospital
Oxford, OX3 7JX
United Kingdom

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