{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,1]],"date-time":"2026-04-01T03:31:43Z","timestamp":1775014303770,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MIT Press - Journals","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":["direct.mit.edu"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2013,1,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:p>For decades it has been assumed that sustained, elevated neural activity\u2014the so-called active trace\u2014is the neural correlate of the short-term retention of information. However, a recent fMRI study has suggested that this activity may be more related to attention than to retention. Specifically, a multivariate pattern analysis failed to find evidence that information that was outside the focus of attention, but nonetheless in STM, was retained in an active state. Here, we replicate and extend this finding by querying the neural signatures of attended versus unattended information within STM with electroencephalograpy (EEG), a method sensitive to oscillatory neural activity to which the previous fMRI study was insensitive. We demonstrate that in the delay-period EEG activity, there is information only about memory items that are also in the focus of attention. Information about items outside the focus of attention is not detectable. This result converges with the fMRI findings to suggest that, contrary to conventional wisdom, an active memory trace may be unnecessary for the short-term retention of information.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn_a_00305","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2012,12,2]],"date-time":"2012-12-02T16:00:03Z","timestamp":1354464003000},"page":"127-142","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/mitpressjournals.corrections.policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":231,"title":["Decoding Attended Information in Short-term Memory: An EEG Study"],"prefix":"10.1162","volume":"25","author":[{"given":"Joshua J.","family":"LaRocque","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"1University of Wisconsin, Madison"}]},{"given":"Jarrod A.","family":"Lewis-Peacock","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"2Princeton University"}]},{"given":"Andrew T.","family":"Drysdale","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1University of Wisconsin, Madison"}]},{"given":"Klaus","family":"Oberauer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"3University of Zurich"}]},{"given":"Bradley R.","family":"Postle","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1University of Wisconsin, Madison"}]}],"member":"281","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2013,1,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"2021072913254141500_R1","first-page":"47","article-title":"Working memory.","volume-title":"Psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory.","author":"Baddeley","year":"1974"},{"key":"2021072913254141500_R2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"163","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-2909.104.2.163","article-title":"Evolving conceptions of memory storage, selective attention, and their mutual constraints within the human information-processing system.","volume":"104","author":"Cowan","year":"1988","journal-title":"Psychological Bulletin"},{"key":"2021072913254141500_R3","volume-title":"Attention and memory: An integrated 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