Center for Brain Science, RIKEN, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2022 Sep;129:14-21. doi: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2021.08.014. Epub 2021 Sep 14.
Adaptive behavior is supported by context-dependent cognitive control that enables stable and flexible sensorimotor transformations. Impairments in this type of control are often attributed to dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, the underlying circuit principles of PFC function that support cognitive control have remained elusive. While the complex, diverse responses of PFC neurons to cognitive variables have been studied both from the perspective of individual cell activity and overall population dynamics, these two levels have often been investigated separately. This review discusses two specific cell groups, context/brain state responsive interneuron subtypes and output decoder neurons, that might bridge conceptual frameworks derived from these two research approaches. I highlight the unique properties and functions of these cell groups and discuss how future studies leveraging their features are likely to provide a new understanding of PFC dynamics combining single-neuron and network perspectives.
适应性行为受到上下文相关的认知控制的支持，这种控制可以实现稳定和灵活的感觉运动转换。这种控制的损伤通常归因于前额叶皮层 (PFC) 的功能障碍。然而，支持认知控制的 PFC 功能的潜在电路原理仍然难以捉摸。虽然已经从单个细胞活动和整体群体动力学的角度研究了 PFC 神经元对认知变量的复杂、多样的反应，但这两个水平通常是分开研究的。这篇综述讨论了两个特定的细胞群，即对上下文/大脑状态有反应的中间神经元亚型和输出解码器神经元，它们可能架起了从这两种研究方法得出的概念框架之间的桥梁。我强调了这些细胞群的独特特性和功能，并讨论了如何利用它们的特性进行未来的研究，这可能会从单个神经元和网络的角度提供对 PFC 动力学的新理解。
