Topic: dlPFC

Neural circuits adapt their computations to perform cognitive functions within and across tasks. These adaptations are vital for decision making, which often requires the integration of past information and present context to generate appropriate behaviors. Neurons in association cortices exhibit selective activity for task-relevant signals such as current and past choices and outcomes, yet how such selectivity is modulated by the task context is unclear. Interestingly, neuronal activity encodes time or epoch within the task as strongly as conventional task variables. Here we examined the intr

Signaling that an expectation has been violated is a central function of the nervous system. This signal may come in the form of a reward prediction error, which can either be signed, reflecting the value of an unexpected outcome, or unsigned, reflecting the capture of attention. The role of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), known to carry both value and attention related signals, in communicating when expectations are violated is not well understood [1,2]. How are unexpected outcomes signaled in dlPFC? To address this question, we trained macaque monkeys to view displays consisting o