Working memory
Transient information maintenance
Also searched as Transient information maintenance.
In depth
A subdomain of executive function: keeping information available for seconds while you use it. Governed by an inverted-U — in the prefrontal cortex, either too little or too much dopamine signaling impairs it.
What drives it
Motivation increases it.
10.1038/s41467-025-57788-5 — Dopamine (DA) D1 receptor (D1R) stimulation in prefrontal cortex (PFC) produces an 'inverted-U' dose-response, whereby either too little or too much D1R stimulation impairs spatial working memory. doi 10.1038/s41467-025-57788-5 · PMID 17277774
Sleep increases it.
10.3390/brainsci16030333 — Performance in working memory tasks was also significantly impacted (d = -0.19, 95% CI: -0.38 to -0.00). doi 10.3390/brainsci16030333 · PMC6363670
What it drives
It increases Executive function.
The DSM-5 Neurocognitive Work Group agreed on six principal domains of cognitive function, each with subdomains. Executive function comprises planning, decision making, working memory, responding to feedback, inhibition and cognitive flexibility. Taxonomic edge, not a causal mechanism: this is a DSM-5 domain/subdomain relationship, not a pathway acting on another. Sachdev 2014, Nat Rev Neurol 10:634-642 — Classifying neurocognitive disorders: the DSM-5 approach. doi 10.1038/nrneurol.2014.181
It increases Living independently.
Working memory was a robust predictor of IADL functioning in older adults, especially medication management skills. PMID 31711593
Blends that modulate it
Each blend page names this pathway and carries the study behind its claim.
See it on the map
Open the causal map to follow this pathway upstream and downstream, arrow by arrow, each with its study.