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| Research article summary (published 8 Jun 2009): |
Dynamic encoding of responses and outcomes by neurons in medial prefrontal cortex.
Full Abstract
Medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) both contribute to goal-directed behavior, but their precise role remains unclear. Several lines of evidence suggest that MPFC is more important than LPFC for outcome-guided response selection. To examine this, we trained two subjects to perform a task that required them to monitor the specific outcome associated with a specific response on a trial-by-trial basis. While the subjects performed this task, we recorded the electrical activity of single neurons simultaneously from MPFC and LPFC. There were marked differences in the neuronal properties of these two areas. Neurons encoding the response were present in both areas, but in MPFC, there were also neurons that encoded the outcome. In particular, neurons encoded the subject's intended response and how preferable the received outcome was. Thus, only in MPFC was all the information necessary to solve the task encoded. In addition, largely separate populations of MPFC neurons encoded the response and the outcome. Neurons encoding the outcome were in the anterior parts of MPFC: posterior to the corpus callosum, there was a marked drop in their incidence. Our results suggest differences in the contribution of MPFC and LPFC to action control. MPFC neurons encode the desirability of the outcome produced by a specific response on a trial-by-trial basis. This capability may contribute to several of the functions of MPFC, such as action valuation, error detection, and decision making.
Author information
Author/s: Luk, Chung-Hay (CH); Wallis, Jonathan D (JD);
Affiliation: Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-3190, USA.
Grants: P01NS040813 (Agency:NINDS NIH HHS) ; R01DA19028 (Agency:NIDA NIH HHS)
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Journal: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience (J Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2009-Jun; vol 29 (issue 23) : pp 7526-39
Dates: Created 2009/06/11; Completed 2009/06/29; Revised 2009/07/31;
PMID: 19515921, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 8/21/2009, IMS Date: )
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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