Schizophrenia is a chronic psychiatric disorder characterized by positive and negative symptoms. While recent research has extensively explored working memory deficits in schizophrenia, few studies have investigated how continuous memories evolve within working memory. This study aims to address this gap by investigating how task performance errors and attractor dynamics (stable memory states within mnemonic space) in visual working memory relate to symptom severity in schizophrenia. We used a continuous color report task with varying memory loads (1-3 items) and delay durations (500ms, 4000ms) in 47 individuals with schizophrenia and 33 healthy controls. Results demonstrated that both memory load and delay duration significantly increased angular error, with each additional memory item increasing error by approximately 7 degrees. Mean angular error significantly predicted symptom severity as measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) (p = 0.0207). Analysis of bias patterns across color space revealed greater variability in individuals with schizophrenia, suggesting possible disrupted attractor dynamics that warrant further research.

Working memory is vital to human cognition, providing us with the ability to temporarily hold and work with information. Deficits in working memory can manifest as attentional issues such as those present in cognitive disorders like ADHD. Higher working memory capacity (WMC) has previously been shown to be protective against the negative effects that auditory distractions can have on our cognition, meaning that the development of working memory has a direct effect on one’s susceptibility to auditory distractions in adulthood. This study specifically investigated how chronic noise exposure during the development of working memory affected one’s susceptibility to different kinds of auditory distractions in adulthood. College-aged participants who grew up in noisy city environments with consistent chronic noise exposure and quieter rural/suburban environments with less chronic noise exposure were recruited and completed an online auditory working memory complex span task with and without auditory distraction. Data analysis focused on participant distractibility in the form of worsened task performance when an auditory distractor was present. The findings showed no consistent significant differences in distractibility between those who grew up in the presence of more chronic noise exposure in cities and those who grew up in quieter environments. All participants, regardless of developmental environment, showed greater distractibility when less familiar, more artificial auditory distractors were present, hinting at a possible desensitization mechanism to familiar auditory distractors. In addition, higher baseline working memory capacity (WMC) was shown to be modestly correlated with increased susceptibility to auditory distractions, contrary to previous literature.