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Selective representation of relevant information by neurons in the primate prefrontal cortex

Abstract

The severe limitation of the capacity of working memory, the ability to store temporarily and manipulate information1, necessitates mechanisms that restrict access to it. Here we report tests to discover whether the activity of neurons in the prefrontal (PF)cortex, the putative neural correlate of working memory2,3,4,5,6,7,8, might reflect these mechanisms and preferentially represent behaviourally relevant information. Monkeys performed a ‘delayed-matching-to-sample’ task with an array of three objects. Only one of the objects in the array was relevant for task performance and the monkeys needed to find that object (the target) and remember its location. For many PF neurons, activity to physically identical arrays varied with the target location; the location of the non-target objects had little or no influence on activity. Information about the target location was present in activity as early as 140 ms after array onset. Also, information about which object was the target was reflected in the sustained activity of many PF neurons. These results suggest that the prefrontal cortex is involved in selecting and maintaining behaviourally relevant information.

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Figure 1: The behavioural task and recording sites.
Figure 2: Delay activity from a single PF neuron that varied with the location of the target object.
Figure 3: Time course of location and object effects for cells showing those effects.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Chenchal Rao for his participation in an early phase of this experiment and M. Histed for expert animal training and computer support. This work was supported by an NINDS grant and the Pew Charitable Trusts. We thank P. Dayan, R. Desimone, S. Macknik, J. Mazer, J. Schall, R. Wehby, M. Wicherski and M.Wilson for their valuable comments.

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Correspondence to Earl K. Miller.

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Rainer, G., Asaad, W. & Miller, E. Selective representation of relevant information by neurons in the primate prefrontal cortex. Nature 393, 577–579 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/31235

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