Decoding auditory working memory content from EEG responses to auditory-cortical TMS

Working memory (WM), short term maintenance of information for goal directed behavior, is essential to human cognition. Identifying the neural mechanisms supporting WM is a focal point of neuroscientific research. One prominent theory hypothesizes that WM content is carried in “activity-silent” brain states involving short-term synaptic changes. Information carried in such brain states could be decodable from content-specific changes in responses to unrelated “impulse stimuli”. Here, we used single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (spTMS) as the impulse stimulus and then decoded content maintained in WM from EEG using multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) with robust non-parametric permutation testing. The decoding accuracy of WM content significantly enhanced after spTMS was delivered to the posterior superior temporal cortex during WM maintenance. Our results show that WM maintenance involves brain states, which are activity silent relative to other intrinsic processes visible in the EEG signal.