QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, November 1, 2006, 26(44):11313-11323; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2157-06.2006

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental data Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in J. Neurosci. Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (8) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Procyk, E. Articles by Goldman-Rakic, P. S Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Procyk, E. Articles by Goldman-Rakic, P. S

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Modulation of Dorsolateral Prefrontal Delay Activity during Self-Organized Behavior

Emmanuel Procyk^1,2,3 and Patricia S Goldman-Rakic³ 

¹Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U371, Stem Cell and Brain Research, Department of Integrative Neuroscience, 69500 Bron, France, ²Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France, and ³Department of Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510

Correspondence should be addressed to Emmanuel Procyk, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U371, Stem Cell and Brain Research, Department of Integrative Neuroscience, 18 Avenue Doyen Lépine, 69500 Bron, France. Email: procyk{at}lyon.inserm.fr

The regulation of cognitive activity relies on the flexibility of prefrontal cortex functions. To study this mechanism we compared monkey dorsolateral prefrontal activity in two different spatial cognitive tasks: a delayed response task and a self-organized problem-solving task. The latter included two periods, a search by trial and error for a correct response, and a repetition of the response once discovered. We show that (1) delay activity involved in the delayed task also participates in self-generated responses during the problem-solving task and keeps the same location preference, and (2) the amplitude of firing and the strength of spatial selectivity vary with task requirement, even within search periods while approaching the correct response. This variation is dissociated from pure reward probability, but may have a link with uncertainty because the selectivity dropped when reward predictability was maximal. Overall, we show that spatially tuned delay activity of prefrontal neurons reflects the varying level of engagement in control between different spatial cognitive tasks and during self-organized behavior.

Key words: prefrontal; control; planning; working memory; primate; learning

---

Received May 22, 2006; revised Sept. 18, 2006; accepted Sept. 19, 2006.

Correspondence should be addressed to Emmanuel Procyk, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U371, Stem Cell and Brain Research, Department of Integrative Neuroscience, 18 Avenue Doyen Lépine, 69500 Bron, France. Email: procyk{at}lyon.inserm.fr

Related articles in J. Neurosci.:

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex, Working Memory, and Prospective Coding for Action

Rogier B. Mars and Meike J. Grol
J. Neurosci. 2007 27: 1801-1802. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C.-H. Luk and J. D. Wallis Dynamic Encoding of Responses and Outcomes by Neurons in Medial Prefrontal Cortex J. Neurosci., June 10, 2009; 29(23): 7526 - 7539. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. B. Mars and M. J. Grol Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex, Working Memory, and Prospective Coding for Action J. Neurosci., February 21, 2007; 27(8): 1801 - 1802. [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help