Working Memory of Auditory Localization

To investigate brain mechanisms of sound location memory, we studied the distribution of brain activation with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in subjects performing an audiospatial n-back task with three memory load levels. Working memory processing of audiospatial information activated areas in the superior, middle and inferior frontal gyri, and in the posterior parietal and middle temporal cortices. In a control experiment, fMRI during audio- and visuospatial 2-back task performances revealed only few differentially activated subregions between the two tasks. These results demonstrate that working memory processing of auditory locations involves a distributed network of brain areas and suggest that mnemonic processing of audio- and visuospatial information is directed along a common neural pathway in the posterior parietal and prefrontal cortices.