Selective attention in visual short-term memory consolidation

Selection of visual short-term memory content takes place during perceptual and postperceptual processing. We studied postperceptual selection in a change detection task, in which spatially distributed cues preceding the memory array marked potential change targets. In the 550–730ms interval after the memory array onset but not in the following retention interval, event-related potentials showed larger contralateral delay activity when the spatial cues were selective than when they were unselective. This finding implies that distributed precueing strengthens the visual short-term memory representation during an extended memory consolidation phase.