Dataset Information

The road to long-term memory: Top-down attention is more effective than bottom-up attention for forming long-term memories.

ABSTRACT: Does the strength of representations in long-term memory (LTM) depend on which type of attention is engaged? We tested participants' memory for objects seen during visual search. We compared implicit memory for two types of objects-related-context nontargets that grabbed attention because they matched the target defining feature (i.e., color; top-down attention) and salient distractors that captured attention only because they were perceptually distracting (bottom-up attention). In Experiment 1, the salient distractor flickered, while in Experiment 2, the luminance of the salient distractor was alternated. Critically, salient and related-context nontargets produced equivalent attentional capture, yet related-context nontargets were remembered far better than salient distractors (and salient distractors were not remembered better than unrelated distractors). These results suggest that LTM depends not only on the amount of attention but also on the type of attention. Specifically, top-down attention is more effective in promoting the formation of memory traces than bottom-up attention.

SUBMITTER: Sasin E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8219582 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The road to long-term memory: Top-down attention is more effective than bottom-up attention for forming long-term memories.

Sasin Edyta E Fougnie Daryl D

Psychonomic bulletin & review 20210114 3

Does the strength of representations in long-term memory (LTM) depend on which type of attention is engaged? We tested participants' memory for objects seen during visual search. We compared implicit memory for two types of objects-related-context nontargets that grabbed attention because they matched the target defining feature (i.e., color; top-down attention) and salient distractors that captured attention only because they were perceptually distracting (bottom-up attention). In Experiment 1, ...[more]

PMID: 33443709

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Project description:ObjectiveWe aimed to assess the effect of noise exposure on bottom-up and top-down attention functions in industrial workers based on behavioral and brain responses recorded by the multichannel electroencephalogram (EEG).MethodIn this cross-sectional study, 563 shipyard noise-exposed workers with clinical normal hearing were recruited for cognitive testing. Personal cumulative noise exposure (CNE) was calculated with the long-term equivalent noise level and employment duration. The performance of cognitive tests was compared between the high CNE group (H-CNE, >92.2) and the low CNE group; additionally, brain responses were recorded with a 256-channel EEG from a subgroup of 20 noise-exposed (NG) workers, who were selected from the cohort with a pure tone threshold <25 dB HL from 0.25 to 16 kHz and 20 healthy controls matched for age, sex, and education. P300 and mismatch negativity (MMN) evoked by auditory stimuli were obtained to evaluate the top-down and bottom-up attention functions. The sources of P300 and MMN were investigated using GeoSource.ResultsThe total score of the cognitive test (24.55 ± 3.71 vs. 25.32 ± 2.62, p < 0.01) and the subscale of attention score (5.43 ± 1.02 vs. 5.62 ± 0.67, p < 0.001) were significantly lower in the H-CNE group than in the L-CNE group. The attention score has the fastest decline of all the cognitive domain dimensions (slope = -0.03 in individuals under 40 years old, p < 0.001; slope = -0.06 in individuals older than 40 years old, p < 0.001). When NG was compared with controls, the P300 amplitude was significantly decreased in NG at Cz (3.9 ± 2.1 vs. 6.7 ± 2.3 μV, p < 0.001). In addition, the latency of P300 (390.7 ± 12.1 vs. 369.4 ± 7.5 ms, p < 0.001) and MMN (172.8 ± 15.5 vs. 157.8 ± 10.5 ms, p < 0.01) was significantly prolonged in NG compared with controls. The source for MMN for controls was in the left BA11, whereas the noise exposure group's source was lateralized to the BA20.ConclusionLong-term exposure to noise deteriorated the bottom-up and top-down attention functions even in the absence of threshold shifts, as evidenced by behavioral and brain responses.

Dataset Information

The road to long-term memory: Top-down attention is more effective than bottom-up attention for forming long-term memories.

Publications

The road to long-term memory: Top-down attention is more effective than bottom-up attention for forming long-term memories.

Similar Datasets

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