The aim of the study was to investigate whether the auditory cortex supports working memory, the short-term storage of information for goal-directed behavior. In order to achieve this, we carried out a series of experiments with non-human primates (Macaca fascicularis) and humans, who performed various tasks on two-sound sequences. We measured spiking activity of individual neurons and local field potentials in the auditory cortex of the monkeys, and the activity of neural populations in the auditory cortex of humans by means of magnetoencephalography (MEG). The experiments were designed in such a way that they enabled us to identify memory-related activity and disentangle it from activity related to other confounding factors, for example from activity associated with motor preparation. We found persistent auditory cortical activity in the silent period between the two sounds that was clearly related to the short-term storage of task-relevant information. Collectively, we found direct support in both species for the idea that temporary storage of information recruits the sensory areas which initially processthe information. In our effortto understand the processes underlying auditory sensory and working memory, we are using the computational model of signal processing in the auditory cortex developed by May et al. In this model, the serial and parallel structure of auditory cortex is combined with short-term plasticity, and the dynamical units represent the mean spiking rates of local, excitatory and inhibitory neural populations. We show that the model is able to account for the observed phenomena related to sensory and working memory. In so doing, it bridges the gap between single- and multiunit measurements in monkeys and MEG experiments in humans. FINANCIAL SUPPORT: This research was supported by a LIN Special Project, and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (He 1721/10-1, He 1721/10-2, SFB-TRR31/ A4). We also acknowledge the support by an Alexander von Humboldt Polish Honorary Research Fellowship by the Foundation for Polish Science.
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