Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Nat Commun. 2021 Feb 9;12(1):894. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-20943-9.
Prefrontal cortex is critical for cognition. Although much is known about the representation of cognitive variables in the prefrontal cortex, much less is known about the spatio-temporal neural dynamics that underlie cognitive operations. In the present study, we examined information timing and flow across the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), while monkeys carried out a two-armed bandit reinforcement learning task in which they had to learn to select rewarding actions or rewarding objects. When we analyzed signals independently within subregions of the LPFC, we found a task-specific, caudo-rostral gradient in the strength and timing of signals related to chosen objects and chosen actions. In addition, when we characterized information flow among subregions, we found that information flow from action to object representations was stronger from the dorsal to ventral LPFC, and information flow from object to action representations was stronger from the ventral to dorsal LPFC. The object to action effects were more pronounced in object blocks, and also reflected learning specifically in these blocks. These results suggest anatomical segregation followed by the rapid integration of information within the LPFC.
前额皮质对于认知至关重要。尽管人们已经了解了前额皮质中认知变量的表示形式，但对于支持认知操作的时空神经动力学却知之甚少。在本研究中，当猴子执行需要学习选择奖励动作或奖励物体的双臂强盗强化学习任务时，我们检查了侧前额皮质（LPFC）中的信息定时和流动。当我们在 LPFC 的子区域内分别分析信号时，我们发现与所选物体和所选动作相关的信号的强度和定时存在特定于任务的、尾到头的梯度。此外，当我们描述子区域之间的信息流时，我们发现从动作到物体表示的信息流从 LPFC 的背侧到腹侧更强，而从物体到动作表示的信息流从 LPFC 的腹侧到背侧更强。从物体块到动作的影响更为明显，并且也反映了这些块中特定的学习。这些结果表明 LPFC 内的信息是先进行解剖分离，然后再进行快速整合。
