1,721,052 research outputs found
The influence of recent decisions on future goal selection.
No full textRecent decisions about actions and goals can have effects on future choices. Several studies have shown an effect of the previous trial history on neural activity in a subsequent trial. Often, but not always, these effects originate from task requirements that make it necessary to maintain access to previous trial information to make future decisions. Maintaining the information about recent decisions and their outcomes can play an important role in both adapting to new contingencies and learning. Previous goal decisions must be distinguished from goals that are currently being planned to avoid perseveration or more general errors. Output monitoring is probably based on this separation of accomplished past goals from pending future goals that are being pursued. Behaviourally, it has been shown that the history context can influence the location, error rate and latency of successive responses. We will review the neurophysiological studies in the literature, including data from our laboratory, which support a role for the frontal lobe in tracking previous goal selections and outputs when new goals need to be accomplished
Firing variability of frontal pole neurons during a cued strategy task
No full textIn previous reports, we described neuronal activity in the polar (PFp), dorsolateral (PFdl), and orbital (PFo) PFC as monkeys performed a cued strategy task with two spatial goals. On each trial, a cue instructed one of two strategies: Stay with the previous goal or shift to the alternative. A delay period followed each cue, and feedback followed each choice, also at a delay. Our initial analysis showed that the mean firing rate of a population of PFp cells encoded the goal chosen on a trial, but only near the time of feedback, not earlier in the trial. In contrast, PFdl cells encoded goals and strategies during the cue and delay periods, and PFo cells encoded strategies in those task periods. Both areas also signaled goals near feedback time. Here we analyzed trial-to-trial variability of neuronal firing, as measured by the Fano factor (FF): the ratio of variance to the mean. Goal-selective PFp neurons had two properties: (1) a lower FF from the beginning of the trial compared with PFp cells that did not encode goals and (2) a weak but significant inverse correlation between FF throughout a trial and the degree of goal selectivity at feedback time. Cells in PFdl and PFo showed neither of these properties. Our findings indicate that goal-selective PFp neurons were engaged in the task throughout a trial, although they only encoded goals near feedback time. Their lower FF could improve the ability of other cortical areas to decode its selected-goal signal
MatOFF: A tool for analyzing behaviorally complex neurophysiological experiments
No full textThe simple operant conditioning originally used in behavioral neurophysiology 30 years ago has given way to complex and sophisticated behavioral paradigms; so much so, that early general purpose programs for analyzing neurophysiological data are ill-suited for complex experiments. The trend has been to develop custom software for each class of experiment, but custom software can have serious drawbacks. We describe here a general purpose software tool for behavioral and electrophysiological studies, called MatOFF, that is especially suited for processing neurophysiological data gathered during the execution of complex behaviors. Written in the MATLAB programming language, MatOFF solves the problem of handling complex analysis requirements in a unique and powerful way. While other neurophysiological programs are either a loose collection of tools or append MATLAB as a post-processing step, MatOFF is an integrated environment that supports MATLAB scripting within the event search engine safely isolated in a programming sandbox. The results from scripting are stored separately, but in parallel with the raw data, and thus available to all subsequent MatOFF analysis and display processing. An example from a recently published experiment shows how all the features of MatOFF work together to analyze complex experiments and mine neurophysiological data in efficient ways. Published by Elsevier B.V
Macaque monkeys learn by observation in the ghost display condition in the object-in-place task with differential reward to the observer
Full text linkObservational learning has been investigated in monkeys mainly using conspecifics or humans as models to observe. Some studies attempted to clarify the social agent’s role and to test whether non-human primates could learn from observation of a non-social agent, usually mentioned as a ‘ghost display’ condition, but they reported conflicting results. To address this question, we trained three rhesus monkeys in an object-in-place task consisting of the presentation of five subsequent problems composed of two objects, one rewarded and one unrewarded, for six times, or runs. Three types of learning conditions were tested. In the individual learning condition, the monkeys performed the first run, learned from it and improved their performance in the following runs. In the social and non-social learning conditions, they observed respectively a human model and a computer performing the first run and learned by the observation of their successes or errors. In all three conditions, the monkeys themselves received the reward after correct choices only. One-trial learning occurred in all three conditions. The monkeys performed over chance in the second run in all conditions, providing evidence of non-social observational learning with differential reward in macaque monkeys using a “ghost display” condition in a cognitive task
Effects of contraction bias on the decision process in the macaque prefrontal cortex
No full textOur representation of magnitudes such as time, distance, and size is not always veridical because it is affected by multiple biases. From a Bayesian perspective, estimation errors are considered to be the result of an optimization mechanism for the behavior in a noisy environment by integrating previous experience with the incoming sensory information. One influence of the distribution of past stimuli on perceptual decisions is represented by the regression toward the mean, a type of contraction bias. Using a spatial discrimination task with 2 stimuli presented sequentially at different distances from the center, we show that this bias is also present in macaques when comparing the magnitude of 2 distances. We found that the contraction of the first stimulus magnitude toward the center of the distribution accounted for some of the changes in performance, even more so than the effect of difficulty related to the ratio between stimulus magnitudes. At the neural level in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the coding of the decision after the presentation of the second stimulus reflected the effect of the contraction bias on the discriminability of the stimuli at the behavioral level
Simultaneous oscillatory encoding of "hot" and "cold" information during social interactions in the monkey medial prefrontal cortex
No full textSocial interactions in primates require social cognition abilities such as anticipating the partner's future choices as well as pure cognitive skills involving processing task-relevant information. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been implicated in these cognitive processes. Here, we investigated the neural oscillations underlying the complex social behaviors involving the interplay of social roles (Actor vs. Observer) and interaction types (whether working with a "Good" or "Bad" partner). We found opposite power modulations of the beta and gamma bands by social roles, indicating dedicated processing for task-related information. Concurrently, the interaction type was conveyed by lower frequencies, which are commonly associated with neural circuits linked to performance and reward monitoring. Thus, the mPFC exhibits parallel coding of both "cold" processes (purely cognitive) and "hot" processes (reward and social-related). This allocation of neural resources gives the mPFC a key neural node, flexibly integrating multiple sources of information during social interactions
Independent coding of absolute duration and distance magnitudes in the prefrontal cortex
Full text linkThe estimation of space and time can interfere with each other, and neuroimaging studies have shown overlapping activation in the parietal and prefrontal cortical areas. We used duration and distance discrimination tasks to determine whether space and time share resources in prefrontal cortex (PF) neurons. Monkeys were required to report which of two stimuli, a red circle or blue square, presented sequentially, were longer and farther, respectively, in the duration and distance tasks. In a previous study, we showed that relative duration and distance are coded by different populations of neurons and that the only common representation is related to goal coding. Here, we examined the coding of absolute duration and distance. Our results support a model of independent coding of absolute duration and distance metrics by demonstrating that not only relative magnitude but also absolute magnitude are independently coded in the PF
Interference between Space and Time Estimations: From Behavior to Neurons
Full text linkInfluences between time and space can be found in our daily life in which we are surrounded by numerous spatial metaphors to refer to time. For instance, when we move files from one folder to another in our computer a horizontal line that grows from left to right informs us about the elapsed and remaining time to finish the procedure and, similarly, in our communication we use several spatial terms to refer to time. Although with some differences in the degree of interference, not only space has an influence on time but both magnitudes influence each other. Indeed, since our childhood our estimations of time are influenced by space even when space should be irrelevant and the same occurs when estimating space with time as distractor. Such interference between magnitudes has also been observed in monkeys even if they do not use language or computers, suggesting that the two magnitudes are tightly coupled beyond communication and technology. Imaging and lesion studies have indicated that same brain areas are involved during the processing of both magnitudes and have suggested that rather than coding the specific magnitude itself the brain represents them as abstract concepts. Recent neurophysiological studies in prefrontal cortex, however, have shown that the coding of absolute and relative space and time in this area is realized by independent groups of neurons. Interestingly, instead, a high overlap was observed in this same area in the coding of goal choices across tasks. These results suggest that rather than during perception or estimation of space and time the interference between the two magnitudes might occur, at least in the prefrontal cortex, in a subsequent phase in which the goal has to be chosen or the response provided
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