Dynamic functional connectivity in working memory processes

ALVARO DELEGLISE; CERVIGNI MAURICIO

Psyquiatry and Neuroscience Update. Volume IV

Springer

Lugar: Nueva York; Año: 2019;

Working memory (WM) is a neurocognitive function that intervenes in virtually all of the mental operations that require a conscious processing of information. Indeed, WM defines the set of information accessible to consciousness and conscious processing during transitory periods, i.e., the information that is currently available to be incorporated into our plans, strategies, decisions, computations, and actions. The aim of this paper is to provide a brief review of recent studies that have applied network science and graph-theoretical analytic tools to fMRI and EEG/MEG data to examine the principles of functional networks dynamics and network reconfigurations that underlie WM processes. These studies had consistently shown that, compared with rest conditions, cognitive processes associated with WM not only involve changes in the strength of functional connections between neuronal populations or brain regions, but also new topological configurations and reorganization of functional connections. More specifically, a shift toward integrated states of global communication between different subnetworks that otherwise remain segregated appears to be a fingerprint of cognitive processes that require the retention and flexible use of information. In addition, by comparing the brain dynamics during different cognitive demanding conditions within the same WM task, some studies have shown that these patterns of network integration change as a function of WM load. In the final section we suggest that these WM studies can be interpreted in the framework of the Neuronal Global Workspace model of consciousness as highly informative about how the dynamic interplay and balance between functional networks segregation and integration supports conscious cognition and behavior.