Development of two Spanish versions of the Verbal Selective Reminding Test

El Test de Recuerdo Verbal Selectivo (TRVS) es una de las pruebas más extensamente utilizadas para la evaluación del aprendizaje y la memoria verbales. Sin embargo, este test ha sido construido principalmente para evaluar a pacientes de habla inglesa, no existiendo todavía ninguna versión española que pueda ser utilizada para evaluar a pacientes de habla hispana. Para solventar este problema, se construyeron dos versiones españolas del Test de Recuerdo Verbal Selectivo administrándose a 48 sujetos sanos, 19-31 años, en dos sesiones separadas. Encontramos que las respuestas de los sujetos a las dos versiones fueron comparables, excepto para un índice. Todas las variables sobre ambas formas presentaron correlaciones positivas significativas. También se estudió la fiabilidad test-retest para cada orden, encontrándose que el orden 2 (en el que la forma 2 se administró primero) fue más fiable que el orden 1 (donde la forma 1 se administró primero).The Selective Reminding procedure has become a widely used test for evaluating verbal learning and memory. However, since this test was mainly devised for use in English speaking individuals, disadvantages could appear when translations of the test are applied to Spanish speaking patients. To overcome these difficulties, two Spanish versions of the Verbal Selective Reminding Test were devised and administered to 48 healthy individuals, 19-31 years in age, in two separate sessions. We found that performances on the two forms were comparable, except for one measure. All the variables on both forms yielded significant positive correlations. We also examined test-retest reliability separately for both possible orders, with Order 2 (Form 2 administered first) being more reliable than Order 1 (Form 1 administered first)

The natural frequencies of the resting human brain: an MEG-based atlas

Brain oscillations are considered to play a pivotal role in neural communication. However, detailed information regarding the typical oscillatory patterns of individual brain regions is surprisingly scarce. In this study we applied a multivariate data-driven approach to create an atlas of the natural frequencies of the resting human brain on a voxel-by-voxel basis. We analysed resting-state magnetoencephalography (MEG) data from 128 healthy adult volunteers obtained from the Open MEG Archive (OMEGA). Spectral power was computed in source space in 500 ms steps for 82 frequency bins logarithmically spaced from 1.7 to 99.5 Hz. We then applied k-means clustering to detect characteristic spectral profiles and to eventually identify the natural frequency of each voxel. Our results provided empirical confirmation of the canonical frequency bands and revealed a region-specific organisation of intrinsic oscillatory activity, following both a medial-to-lateral and a posterior-to-anterior gradient of increasing frequency. In particular, medial fronto-temporal regions were characterised by slow rhythms (delta/theta). Posterior regions presented natural frequencies in the alpha band, although with differentiated generators in the precuneus and in sensory-specific cortices (i.e., visual and auditory). Somatomotor regions were distinguished by the mu rhythm, while the lateral prefrontal cortex was characterised by oscillations in the high beta range (>20 Hz). Importantly, the brain map of natural frequencies was highly replicable in two independent subsamples of individuals. To the best of our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive atlas of ongoing oscillatory activity performed to date. Critically, the identification of natural frequencies is a fundamental step towards a better understanding of the functional architecture of the human brainThis work was supported by FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades – Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Spain (grant PGC2018-100682-B-I00 to AC and PC) and the Comunidad de Madrid POEJ/FSE (grant PEJD-2017-PRE/SOC-3859 to AC). MM was supported by the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (FPI-UAM-2017 fellowship). JG was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (GR 2024/5-1 and GR 2024/8-1). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscrip

Selection within working memory impairs perceptual detection

There is broad consensus supporting the reciprocal influence of working memory (WM) and attention. Top-down mechanisms operate to cope with either environmental or internal demands. In that sense, it is possible to select an item within the contents of WM to endow it with prioritized access. Although evidence supports that maintaining an item in this privileged state does not rely on sustained visual attention, it is unknown whether selection within WM depends on perceptual attention. To answer this question, we recorded electrophysiological neural activity while participants performed a retro-cue task in which we inserted a detection task in the delay period after retro-cue presentation. Critically, the onset of to-be-detected near threshold stimuli was unpredictable, and thus, sustained perceptual spatial attention was needed to accomplish the detection task from the offset of the retro-cue. At a behavioral level, we found decreased visual detection when a WM representation was retro-cued. At a neural level, alpha oscillatory activity confirmed a spatial shift of attention to the retro-cued representation. We interpret the convergence of neural oscillations and behavioral data to point towards the theory that selection within WM could be accomplished through a perceptual attentional mechanismThis work was funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades under grant PID2019-111335GA-100, PGC2018-100682-B-100, PID2021-125841NB-100 and PID2021-125842NB-100 and by the Comunidad de Madrid under Grant H2019/HUM-570