Electroencephalogram Decoding Reveals Distinct Processes for Directing Spatial Attention and Encoding Into Working Memory
通过两项成人实验（N=39；N=33），利用脑电图独立操控记忆项目数量和注意空间范围，发现空间注意和工作记忆编码在神经层面可分离，空间注意追踪注意区域而不受记忆项目数影响，工作记忆负荷信号则对注意范围不敏感。
Past work reveals a tight relationship between spatial attention and storage in visual working memory. But is spatially attending an item tantamount to working memory encoding? Here, we tracked electroencephalography (EEG) signatures of spatial attention and working memory encoding while independently manipulating the number of memory items and the spatial extent of attention in two studies of adults ( N = 39; N = 33). Neural measures of spatial attention tracked the position and size of the attended area independent of the number of individuated items encoded into working memory. At the same time, multivariate decoding of the number of items stored in working memory was insensitive to variations in the breadth and position of spatial attention. Finally, representational similarity analyses provided converging evidence for a pure load signal that is insensitive to the spatial extent of the stored items. Thus, although spatial attention is a persistent partner of visual working memory, it is functionally dissociable from the selection and maintenance of individuated representations in working memory.