In vision, there is a major division between an occipitotemporal pathway that processes information about features that identify an object ('what') and an occipitoparietal pathway that processes information about spatial relationships ('where'). This raises the important question of how information about disparate attributes of an object are integrated. A candidate for a role in integration is the prefrontal (PF) cortex. A major function of PF cortex is working memory (WM), the active holding of information """"""""on--line,"""""""" in order to guide behavior.
The aim of this project is to determine how 'what' and 'where' might be integrated in the WM functions of PF cortex. Neuronal activity from the lateral PF cortex of monkeys will be recorded from multiple electrodes while monkeys perform two WM tasks. One task requires monkeys to separately retain 'what' information and 'where' information in WM. The other task requires monkeys to integrate 'what' and 'where' in WM ('what/where'). The functional topography of the lateral PF cortex will be mapped in order to determine whether the individual PF neurons are activated when monkeys perform both 'what' and 'where' WM tasks and whether there are distinct neural representations of 'what,' 'where,' and 'what/where.' The activity of simultaneously recorded neurons will be examined to search for synchronized activity between cells selective for object features and cells selective for object locations. Data from this project may yield insight into solving the """"""""binding problem"""""""" by uncovering general mechanisms involved in forming a unified representation from disparate stimulus attributes. Furthermore, this project will yield important insights into the mechanisms underlying WM. This has also become important as recent research has established a link between neuropsychiatric disorders, WM, and PF function.
| Cromer, Jason A; Machon, Michelle; Miller, Earl K (2011) Rapid association learning in the primate prefrontal cortex in the absence of behavioral reversals. J Cogn Neurosci 23:1823-8 |
