Mesoscale modules for working memory in primate frontoparietal cortex
Modular organization, the division of the cerebral cortex into functionally distinct subregions, is well established in the primate sensorimotor cortex, but debated in the cognitive association cortex, including the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC). So far, single-unit recordings have not confirmed the prefrontal rostro-caudal gradients observed in neuroimaging and neuroanatomical experiments. To bridge these microscale and macroscale perspectives, we obtained microelectrode recordings with exceptional spatial coverage from the PFC of monkeys engaged in a working memory task. Neighboring electrodes shared task-related neural dynamics that were stable across recording sessions and formed spatially continuous, mesoscale clusters with distinct local and long-range fronto-parietal connectivity. Spiking activity was cluster-specific and related to either the encoding, maintenance or decoding of working memory content. Our findings support parcellation of the PFC by cognitive control operations rather than by processed information, indicating that modularity is a fundamental architectural principle across the primate cortex.
Date: 16 October 2024, 15:00 (Wednesday, 1st week, Michaelmas 2024)
Venue: Pharmacology, off Mansfield Road OX1 3QT
Venue Details: Pharmacology Lecture Theatre
Speaker: Prof Simon Jacob (Technical University of Munich)
Organising department: MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit
Organiser: Prof. Andrew Sharott (MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit)
Organiser contact email address: andrew.sharott@bndu.ox.ac.uk
Host: Prof. Peter Magill (University of Oxford)
Part of: Brain Network Dynamics Seminar Series
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editors: Andrew Sharott, Laura Wehmeyer