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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2024.07.26.605172

A finite set of content-free pointers in visual working memory: MEG evidence

Yu, X.·Lau, E.
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Abstract

Human visual working memory (VWM) is known to be capacity-limited, but the nature of this limit continues to be debated. Recent work has proposed that VWM is supported by a finite ([~] 3) set of content-free pointers, acting as stand-ins for individual objects and binding features together. Here, based on two visual working memory experiments (N=20 each) examining memory for simple and complex objects, we report a sustained MEG response over right posterior cortex whose magnitude tracks the core hypothesized properties of this system: load-dependent, capacity-limited and content-free. These results provide novel evidence for a finite set of content-free pointers underlying VWM.

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Yu, X., Lau, E.. 2024-07-26. A finite set of content-free pointers in visual working memory: MEG evidence. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.07.26.605172

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