ArticleJournal of cognitive neuroscience2019
Working Memory Load-related Theta Power Decreases in Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Predict Individual Differences in Performance.
Article in Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 98 citations in OpenAlex.
- Uncorking the limitation-improving dual tasking using transcranial electrical stimulation and task training in the elderly: a systematic review.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Mobile-Delivered Exercise and Yoga Programs on Depressive Symptom Reduction in Employees: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR human factors · 2026Trial
- Causal role of frontal-midline theta in cognitive effort: a pilot study.Journal of neurophysiology · 2021Trial
- The prefrontal cortex across scales: laminar architecture, white-matter constraints, and distributed control in cognition.Brain structure & function · 2026Review
- Theta and Alpha Oscillations Reflect Distinct Control and Stabilization Processes Across Working Memory.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Working memory load and search efficiency in conventional monitor-based 2D versus 3D virtual settings: analysis of response times and parietal induced alpha activity in a modified Sternberg task.Experimental brain research · 2026Article
- EEG Spectral Analysis in Chronic Pain During Rest and Cognitive Reasoning.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Frontal Theta Modulation in Sequential Working Memory: the Impact of Spatial Regularity and Scenario.Brain topography · 2025Article
- Investigating neural correlates of attention in relation to the development of executive functions in early childhood.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Effects of Cerebellar Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation at Different Frequencies on Working Memory: An EEG Study.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2025Article
- Linking the multiple-demand cognitive control system to human electrophysiological activity.Neuropsychologia · 2025Review
- Simultaneous EEG-fMRI Reveals a Visual Working Memory Encoding Network Related to Theta Oscillatory Activity in Healthy Subjects.Human brain mapping · 2025Article
- Rhythm Facilitates Auditory Working Memory via Beta-Band Encoding and Theta-Band Maintenance.Neuroscience bulletin · 2025Article
- Cross-frequency neuromodulation: leveraging theta-gamma coupling for cognitive rehabilitation in MCI patients.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Article
- Scalp Electroencephalogram-Derived Involvement Indexes during a Working Memory Task Performed by Patients with Epilepsy.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Neurophysiological and other features of working memory in older adults at risk for dementia.Cognitive neurodynamics · 2024Article
- Dataset of human-single neuron activity during a Sternberg working memory task.Scientific data · 2024Article
- Theta transcranial alternating current stimulation over the prefrontal cortex enhances theta power and working memory performance.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Decision and response monitoring during working memory are sequentially represented in the human insula.iScience · 2023Article
- The association between working memory precision and the nonlinear dynamics of frontal and parieto-occipital EEG activity.Scientific reports · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Holding information in working memory (WM) is an active and effortful process that is accompanied by sustained load-dependent changes in oscillatory brain activity. These proportional power increases are often reported in EEG studies recording theta over frontal midline sites. Intracranial recordings, however, yield mixed results, depending on the brain area being recorded from. We recorded intracranial EEG with depth electrodes in 13 patients with epilepsy who were performing a Sternberg WM task. Here, we investigated patterns of theta power changes as a function of memory load during maintenance in three areas critical for WM: dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), dorsal ACC (dACC), and hippocampus. Theta frequency power in both hippocampus and dACC increased during maintenance. In contrast, theta frequency power in the DLPFC decreased during maintenance, and this decrease was proportional to memory load. Only the power decreases in DLPFC, but not the power increases in hippocampus and dACC, were predictive of behavior in a given trial. The extent of the load-related theta power decreases in the DLPFC in a given participant predicted a participant's RTs, revealing that DLPFC theta explains individual differences in WM ability between participants. Together, these data reveal a pattern of theta power decreases in the DLPFC that is predictive of behavior and that is opposite of that in other brain areas. This result suggests that theta band power changes serve different cognitive functions in different brain areas and specifically that theta power decreases in DLPFC have an important role in maintenance of information.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.