SAMPLE DELAY CHOICE

1. Conditional Visuomotor Learning Task SAMPLE DELAY CHOICE 1st Reversal 2nd Reversal A A A B B B etc…. Trial Time (ms) 0 500 1500 Asaad, W.F., Rainer, G. and Miller, E.K. (1998) Neuron, 21:1399-1407.

2. Object and Direction selective PF neuron (nonlinear interaction) SAMPLE DELAY 50 A - go left 40 A - go right Spikes per second B - go left 50 30 B - go right 40 20 30 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 Time (ms)

3. Movement Direction Stimulus Mapping Left Right Left Right Left Right

4. Prefrontal cortex : May mediate learning of arbitrary associations. Many PF neurons coded both an object and a currently-associated directional response. During learning, information about the cue object and the action it instructed gradually merged together in PF activity. This may reflect the role of the PF cortex in acquiring and representing behavior-guiding rules, a function crucial for intelligent, adaptive behavior. Asaad, W.F., Rainer, G. and Miller, E.K. (1998) Neuron, 21:1399-1407.

5. We trained monkeys to switch between two abstract rules: “match” and “nonmatch” Match (bar release) Match Rule (DMS) Sample Delay Test Nonmatch rule(DNMS) Four samples were used.New objects every day. Nonmatch (bar release) Wallis, J.D., Anderson, K.C., and Miller, E.K. (2000) Soc. Neurosci. Abstr.

6. Condition Rule Example Trial Sample Cue Lever release + reward Match + low tone + no reward Nonmatch + high tone Lever release

7. A Prefrontal Neuron Tuned to the Match Rule Sample Delay

8. A Prefrontal Neuron Tuned to the Nonmatch Rule Sample Delay

9. The prefrontal cortex: Selectively represents goal-relevant information (focal attention, recall).Synthesizes information from diverse sources to serve a common behavioral goal (sensory inputs, stored knowledge). Is plastic: it neural activity changes to meet behavioral demands.Knits together arbitrary associationsbetween diverse, but behaviorally-related information.Conveys information about the behavioral contextin which the animals are engaged and the rules used to guide behavior. This may reflect the role of the PF cortex in acquiring and representing the formal demands of behavior, rules or models of tasks that provide a foundation for complex, intelligent behavior. (Cohen and Servan-Schreiber, 1992; Passingham, 1993; Grafman, 1994;Wise et al., 1996; Dehaene et al., 1998; Miller, 1999, Miller, 2000, Miller and Cohen, 2001).

10. The PF cortex and cognitive control Phone rings Answer Don’t answer Inactive Active

11. The PF cortex and cognitive control Phone rings Answer Don’t answer Inactive Active

12. The PF cortex and cognitive control At home Guest Phone rings Answer Don’t answer Inactive Active

13. The PF cortex and cognitive control PF cortex At home Guest Phone rings Answer Don’t answer Inactive Active

14. Reward signals(VTA neurons?) The PF cortex and cognitive control PF cortex At home Guest Phone rings Answer Don’t answer Inactive Active

15. The PF cortex and cognitive control PF cortex At home Guest Phone rings Answer Don’t answer Inactive Active

16. Reward signals(VTA neurons?) The PF cortex and cognitive control PF cortex At home Guest Phone rings Answer Don’t answer Inactive Active

17. The PF cortex and cognitive control PF cortex At home Guest Phone rings Answer Don’t answer Inactive Active

18. The PF cortex and cognitive control PF cortex At home Guest Phone rings Answer Don’t answer Inactive Active

19. The PF cortex and cognitive control PF cortex At home Guest Phone rings Answer Don’t answer Inactive Active

20. The PF cortex and cognitive control PF cortex At home Guest Phone rings Answer Don’t answer Inactive Active

21. The PF cortex and cognitive control PF cortex At home Guest Phone rings Answer Don’t answer Inactive Active

22. The PF cortex and cognitive control PF cortex At home Guest Phone rings Answer Don’t answer Inactive Active

23. PF cortex The prefrontal cortex may be like a switch operator in a system of railroad tracks: Its integrative anatomy allows it to rapidly acquire a “map” that specifies which pattern of “tracks” (neural pathways) are needed to solve a given task.

24. PF cortex The prefrontal cortex may be like a switch operator in a system of railroad tracks: Its integrative anatomy allows it to rapidly acquire a “map” that specifies which pattern of “tracks” (neural pathways) are needed to solve a given task. The PF cortex actively maintains this pattern during task performance, allowing feedback signals to bias the flow of activity in other brain areas along those tracks.

25. PF cortex The prefrontal cortex may be like a switch operator in a system of railroad tracks: Its integrative anatomy allows it to rapidly acquire a “map” that specifies which pattern of “tracks” (neural pathways) are needed to solve a given task. The PF cortex actively maintains this pattern during task performance, allowing feedback signals to bias the flow of activity in other brain areas along those tracks. Attention, retrieval, representation ofrules and goals, response selection, inhibitory control, etc. can be explained by PF bias signals actingon different brain structures.