PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Finn, Emily S.
AU  - Huber, Laurentius
AU  - Jangraw, David C.
AU  - Bandettini, Peter A.
TI  - Layer-dependent activity in human prefrontal cortex during working memory
AID  - 10.1101/425249
DP  - 2018 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 425249
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/09/24/425249.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/09/24/425249.full
AB  - Working memory involves a series of functions: encoding a stimulus, maintaining or manipulating its representation over a delay, and finally making a behavioral response. While working memory engages dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), few studies have investigated whether these subfunctions are localized to different cortical depths in this region, and none have done so in humans. Here, we use high-resolution functional MRI to interrogate the layer specificity of neural activity during different epochs of a working memory task in dlPFC. We detect activity timecourses that follow the hypothesized patterns: superficial layers are preferentially active during the delay period, while deeper layers are preferentially active during the response. Results demonstrate that layer-specific fMRI can be used in higher-order brain regions to non-invasively map cognitive information processing along cortical circuitry in humans.