Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

The frontal lobes play a key role in sequential organization of behavior. Little is known, however, of the way frontal neurons code successive phases of a structured task plan. Using correlational analysis, we asked how a population of frontal cells represents the multiple events of a complex sequential task. Monkeys performed a conventional cue-target association task, with distinct cue, delay, and target phases. Across the population of recorded cells, we examined patterns of activity for different task phases, and in the same phase, for different stimulus objects. The results show hierarchical representation of task events. For different task phases, there were different, approximately orthogonal patterns of activity across the population of neurons. Modulations of each basic pattern encoded stimulus information within each phase. By orthogonal coding, the frontal lobe may control transitions between the discrete steps of a mental program; by correlated coding within each step, similar operations may be applied to different stimulus content.

Original publication

DOI

10.1073/pnas.0802569105

Type

Journal article

Journal

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Publication Date

19/08/2008

Volume

105

Pages

11969 - 11974

Keywords

Animals, Behavior, Animal, Cluster Analysis, Macaca mulatta, Memory, Prefrontal Cortex