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.