Abstract
Maintenance of information in working memory (WM) is assumed to rely on refreshing and elaboration, but clear mechanistic descriptions of these cognitive processes are lacking, and it is unclear whether they are simply two labels for the same process. This fMRI study investigated the extent to which refreshing, elaboration, and repeating of items in WM are distinct neural processes with dissociable behavioral outcomes in WM and long-term memory (LTM). Multivariate pattern analyses of fMRI data revealed differentiable neural signatures for these processes, and the degree of neural separation within an individual predicted their memory performance. The benefit of refreshing items in WM increased as its neural signature became more similar to repetition. Elaboration improved LTM, but not WM, and this benefit increased as its neural signature became more distinct from repetition. This demonstrates that refreshing and elaboration are separate processes that have predictable contributions to memory performance.