# Controlling the Contents of Working Memory

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 2024 · $636,729

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The overarching goal of this proposal is to understand, at a mechanistic level, how visual working memory is
controlled. It will achieve this by pursuing two Specific Aims:
Specific Aim I: To elucidate the mechanisms underlying the control of priority in working memory
Specific Aim II: To elucidate the mechanisms underlying the active removal of information from working memory
Working memory is understood to be a necessary elemental contributor to many aspects of high-level cognition
– including cognitive control, problem solving, and planning – and its impairment is characteristic of many
psychopathologies and psychiatric syndromes – including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), major
depressive disorder (MDD), and schizophrenia. The research pursuing Specific Aim I entails modeling working
memory behavior with recurrent neural networks, to refine algorithm-level models of the operations that
contribute to the control of priority working memory, then testing these models in human brains with functional
magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and transcranial magnetic stimulation
(TMS). The research pursuing Specific Aim II entails the study of active-removal from working memory with
model-based analysis (using a reinforcement learning-based model of cognitive control) and computational
simulations of fMRI data, and with repetitive (r)TMS targeting frontal circuits responsible for active-removal
versus for the control of priority.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10873250
- **Project number:** 5R01MH131678-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
- **Principal Investigator:** BRADLEY R POSTLE
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $636,729
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-06-21 → 2028-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10873250

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10873250, Controlling the Contents of Working Memory (5R01MH131678-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-29 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10873250. Licensed CC0.

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