Abstract
Working memory represents the immediate memory processes involved in the simultaneous storage and processing of information. In the language processing, reading or listening the sentences, the emphasis is on the parallel systems of storing the partial product of comprehension while processing the incoming information.
In this study, the listening span test (LST) , which can evaluate the individual differences of working memory capacity, was performed to investigate the brain mechanisms of the verbal working memory.
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was mesured while the subjects performed the LST. The peak alpha frequency of MEG power shifted when the working memory demands increased. Individual differences were found in the span, in which the shift became to be largest. Moreover, the shift was dominant mainly in the frontal and temporal regions in the left hemisphere, which indicate the locus of verbal working memory.
