ArticleCurrent biology : CB2022
Fronto-medial theta coordinates posterior maintenance of working memory content.
Article in Current biology : CB, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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39 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Is transcranial alternating current stimulation effective for improving working memory? A three-level meta-analysis.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2025Pooled it
- Temporal Interference Stimulation Boosts Working Memory Performance in the Frontoparietal Network.Human brain mapping · 2025Trial
- Distinct neural oscillations predict individual differences in feedback-guided cognitive flexibility.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2026Article
- A longitudinal study on the effect of aerobic exercise intervention on working memory of college students with internet addiction.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Theta-gamma phase amplitude coupling serves as a marker of social cognition and visual working memory deficits in individuals with elevated autistic traits.Communications psychology · 2026Article
- Time, space, memory and brain-body rhythms.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2026Review
- A data-driven approach to identifying and evaluating connectivity-based neural correlates of conscious visual perception.Neuroscience of consciousness · 2026Article
- Temporal Structure of Item Presentation Modulates Brain Oscillations in Verbal Working Memory.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Article
- Article
- Mapping EEG Metrics to Human Affective and Cognitive Models: An Interdisciplinary Scoping Review from a Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Frontal Theta Modulation in Sequential Working Memory: the Impact of Spatial Regularity and Scenario.Brain topography · 2025Article
- Chinese Character Features Facilitate Working Memory Updating: Evidence From the EEG.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Linking the multiple-demand cognitive control system to human electrophysiological activity.Neuropsychologia · 2025Review
- Rhythm Facilitates Auditory Working Memory via Beta-Band Encoding and Theta-Band Maintenance.Neuroscience bulletin · 2025Article
- Top-down selection of visual working memory contents is supported by alpha-band phase-synchronized oscillatory networks.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Frontal theta oscillations and cognitive flexibility: Age-related modulations in EEG activity.Aging brain · 2025Article
- Effects of age on the neural correlates of auditory working memory in cochlear implant users.PloS one · 2025Article
- Multimodal neurophenomenology of advanced concentration absorption meditation: An intensively sampled case study of Jhana.NeuroImage · 2025Article
- The representation of abstract goals in working memory is supported by task-congruent neural geometry.PLoS biology · 2024Article
- Sensory stimulation enhances visual working memory capacity.Communications psychology · 2024Article
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Abstract
How does the human brain manage multiple bits of information to guide goal-directed behavior? Successful working memory (WM) functioning has consistently been linked to oscillatory power in the theta frequency band (4-8 Hz) over fronto-medial cortex (fronto-medial theta [FMT]). Specifically, FMT is thought to reflect the mechanism of an executive sub-system that coordinates maintenance of memory contents in posterior regions. However, direct evidence for the role of FMT in controlling specific WM content is lacking. Here, we collected high-density electroencephalography (EEG) data while participants engaged in WM-dependent tasks and then used multivariate decoding methods to examine WM content during the maintenance period. Engagement of WM was accompanied by a focal increase in FMT. Importantly, decoding of WM content was driven by posterior sites, which, in turn, showed increased functional theta coupling with fronto-medial channels. Finally, we observed a significant slowing of FMT frequency with increasing WM load, consistent with the hypothesized broadening of a theta "duty cycle" to accommodate additional WM items. Together, these findings demonstrate that frontal theta orchestrates posterior maintenance of WM content. Moreover, the observed frequency slowing elucidates the function of FMT oscillations by specifically supporting phase-coding accounts of WM.
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