Differences in dynamic and static coding within different subdivision of the prefrontal cortex

TitleDifferences in dynamic and static coding within different subdivision of the prefrontal cortex
Publication TypeConference Abstract
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsMeyers, E, Riley, M, Qi, X-L, Constantinidis, C
Conference NameSociety for Neuroscience's Annual Meeting - SfN 2017
Date Published11/2017
Place PublishedWashington, DC

A longstanding question in neuroscience concerns what is the neural basis underlying working memory. Early work showed that neurons in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) hold information in working memory by having sustained firing rates for extended periods of time, while more recent work has shown that many neurons in the PFC appear to be selective for shorter periods of time and thus information in working memory is contained in a dynamic population code (Meyers et al. 2008, 2012, Stokes et al. 2013). As more results have accumulated, it has become increasingly clear that different studies are leading to different results, with some studies showing predominantly static codes, while other show primarily dynamic codes (King and Dehaene, 2014), however it remains unclear what is leading to these different findings. One possibility is that different brain regions code information differently, and that different studies have recorded neural activity from different regions. To examine this possibility, we recording neural activity from five different subdivision of the PFC (posterior-dorsal, mid-dorsal, anterior-dorsal, posterior-ventral, anterior-ventral PFC) and compared the neural coding properties in these subdivisions. A total of 1856 neurons in four monkeys trained to perform spatial and shape working memory tasks were analyzed. Our results show striking differences in how these subdivisions code information, with some subdivisions containing a completely dynamic code, and other subdivisions containing a completely static code.  These findings give a potential explanation for discrepancies in the literature and should lead to a deeper understanding of how information is stored in working memory.

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