ABSTRACT
Functional neuroimaging studies indicate that interconnected parts of the subcallosal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), striatum, and amygdala play a fundamental role in affect in health and disease. Yet, while the patterns of neural activity engaged in striatum and amygdala during affective processing are well established, especially during reward anticipation, very little is known about subcallosal ACC. Here we recorded neural activity in non-human primate subcallosal ACC and compared this to interconnected parts of basolateral amygdala and rostromedial striatum while macaque monkeys performed reward-based tasks. Applying multiple analysis approaches, we found that neurons in subcallosal ACC and rostromedial striatum preferentially signal anticipated reward using short bursts of activity that form temporally-specific sequences. By contrast, basolateral amygdala uses a mixture of both sequential and more sustained activity to signal anticipated reward. Thus, sequential patterns of neural activity across populations of neurons are engaged in affect, especially in subcallosal ACC.
HIGHLIGHTS
Sustained elevated firing signals anticipated reward in amygdala
Temporally specific sequences of activity in subcallosal ACC signal anticipated reward
Neurons exhibit more punctate encoding when tasks become more complex
Temporal sequences of neural activity signal different anticipated rewards in BLA
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None