scholarly journals Neuronal activity in the monkey prefrontal cortex during a duration discrimination task with visual and auditory cues

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Chiba ◽  
Kazunori Morita ◽  
Ken-ichi Oshio ◽  
Masahiko Inase
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Duration Discrimination ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Final Decision ◽  
Monkey Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Duration Discrimination Task

AbstractTo investigate neuronal processing involved in the integration of auditory and visual signals for time perception, we examined neuronal activity in prefrontal cortex (PFC) of macaque monkeys during a duration discrimination task with auditory and visual cues. In the task, two cues were consecutively presented for different durations between 0.2 and 1.8 s. Each cue was either auditory or visual and was followed by a delay period. After the second delay, subjects indicated whether the first or the second cue was longer. Cue- and delay-responsive neurons were found in PFC. Cue-responsive neurons mostly responded to either the auditory or the visual cue, and to either the first or the second cue. The neurons responsive to the first delay showed activity that changed depending on the first cue duration and were mostly sensitive to cue modality. The neurons responsive to the second delay exhibited activity that represented which cue, the first or second cue, was presented longer. Nearly half of this activity representing order-based duration was sensitive to cue modality. These results suggest that temporal information with visual and auditory signals was separately processed in PFC in the early stage of duration discrimination and integrated for the final decision.

Differential Involvement of Neurons in the Dorsal and Ventral Premotor Cortex During Processing of Visual Signals for Action Planning

2006 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 3596-3616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eiji Hoshi ◽  
Jun Tanji
Keyword(s):  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Action Planning ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Visual Cue ◽  
Ventral Premotor Cortex ◽  
Neuron Response

We examined neuronal activity in the dorsal and ventral premotor cortex (PMd and PMv, respectively) to explore the role of each motor area in processing visual signals for action planning. We recorded neuronal activity while monkeys performed a behavioral task during which two visual instruction cues were given successively with an intervening delay. One cue instructed the location of the target to be reached, and the other indicated which arm was to be used. We found that the properties of neuronal activity in the PMd and PMv differed in many respects. After the first cue was given, PMv neuron response mostly reflected the spatial position of the visual cue. In contrast, PMd neuron response also reflected what the visual cue instructed, such as which arm to be used or which target to be reached. After the second cue was given, PMv neurons initially responded to the cue's visuospatial features and later reflected what the two visual cues instructed, progressively increasing information about the target location. In contrast, the activity of the majority of PMd neurons responded to the second cue with activity reflecting a combination of information supplied by the first and second cues. Such activity, already reflecting a forthcoming action, appeared with short latencies (<400 ms) and persisted throughout the delay period. In addition, both the PMv and PMd showed bilateral representation on visuospatial information and motor-target or effector information. These results further elucidate the functional specialization of the PMd and PMv during the processing of visual information for action planning.

scholarly journals Dopamine Gates Visual Signals in Monkey Prefrontal Cortex Neurons

Cell Reports ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-172.e4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximilian Stalter ◽  
Stephanie Westendorff ◽  
Andreas Nieder
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Monkey Prefrontal Cortex

Effects of dopamine antagonists on neuronal activity related to a delayed response task in monkey prefrontal cortex

1990 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 1401-1412 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Sawaguchi ◽  
M. Matsumura ◽  
K. Kubota
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Background Activity ◽  
Central Zone ◽  
Companion Paper ◽  
D1 Receptors ◽  
Dopamine Antagonists ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Monkey Prefrontal Cortex

1. Using iontophoretic techniques, we investigated the influence of dopamine (DA) antagonists [haloperidol (HAL), a non-selective DA antagonist; sulpiride (SUL), a selective antagonist for D2 receptors; and fluphenazine (FLU), a potent antagonist for D1 receptors] on neuronal activity related to a delayed response (DR) task in the monkey prefrontal cortex (PFC). The DR task was initiated by the rotation of a handle to a central zone and consisted of seven distinct periods: an initial intertrial interval of 0.3 s, a precue period of 1 s (a center green lamp), a cue period of 1 s (left or right lamp), a delay period of 4 s, a go period (red lamp in the center; rotation of the handle to either the left or right zone), a hold period (holding of the handle in either the left or right zone), and a final reward period. Because it was shown, as described in the companion paper (Sawaguchi et al. 1990), that DA augments the increased activity of prefrontal neurons related to the cue, delay, and go periods of the DR task, effects of the DA antagonists were examined in a total of 61 neurons that showed increases in activity related to these periods and a response to DA. 2. Consistent with previous studies (Sawaguchi et al. 1988a, 1990), iontophoretically applied DA increased DR task-related activity in prefrontal neurons. Iontophoretically applied HAL and FLU antagonized the increased effect of DA on the task-related activity. By contrast, SUL did not have any clear effects on the influence of DA. 3. By themselves, HAL and FLU reduced prefrontal neuronal activity related to the cue, delay, and go periods of the DR task. The ratio of the reduction by HAL and FLU was significantly larger for activity during the cue, delay, or go period than for background activity during the precue period; and, as a result, the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of the task-related activity to background activity was reduced during the application of HAL and FLU. In contrast, SUL did not have any clear effects on activity related to the cue, delay, and go periods of the DR task, and the S/N ratio during the application of SUL did not significantly differ from that before the application of the drug.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Catecholaminergic effects on neuronal activity related to a delayed response task in monkey prefrontal cortex

1990 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 1385-1400 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Sawaguchi ◽  
M. Matsumura ◽  
K. Kubota
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Background Activity ◽  
Japanese Macaque ◽  
Central Zone ◽  
Delay Period ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Differential Delay ◽  
Hold Period ◽  
Monkey Prefrontal Cortex

1. Using iontophoretic techniques, we investigated the effects of dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline (NA) on neuronal activity related to a delayed response (DR) task in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of the Japanese macaque monkeys. The DR task was initiated by rotation of a handle to a central zone and consisted of seven distinct time periods: an initial waiting period of 0.3 s, a precue period of 1 s (a central green lamp), a cue period of 1 s (left or right lamp), a delay period of 4 s, a go period of 1 s (red lamp in the center; rotation of the handle to either the left or right zone), a hold period (holding of the handle in either the left or right zone for 0.3 s), and a final reward period. 2. A total of 116 neurons were DR task related. They showed increases in activity during the precue period (Precue-types, n = 19), during both the cue and go periods (Cue/GO-types, n = 17), the go period (GO-types, n = 16), and during the delay period (Delay-types, n = 64). The Delay-type neurons were further divided into differential neurons (n = 33), for which the magnitude of the delay-related activity differed significantly between left- and right-cue trials, and nondifferential neurons (n = 31). Some of the Delay-type neurons also showed increases in activity during the cue (n = 26), go (n = 27), or both the cue and go periods (n = 11). 3. DA or NA, applied iontophoretically with a current of 50 nA, induced increased or decreased responses in most of the DR task-related neurons. DA increased activity of most of the Cue/GO-(16/17), GO-(13/16), and Delay-type neurons (49/64), and NA decreased activity of most of the Precue- (13/19) and non-differential Delay-type neurons (25/31). Thus different types of DR task-related neurons showed different responses to DA and NA. 4. In Cue/GO-, GO-, and/or Delay-type neurons, DA increased the activity related to the cue, go, and delay periods more strongly than it increased background activity. As a result, the ratio [i.e., signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio] of activity related to the cue, go, and delay periods to background activity was increased. 5. In Precue-type or nondifferential Delay-type neurons, NA decreased background activity more strongly than it decreased activity during the precue or delay period.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Developing a Psychophysical Measure to Assess Duration Discrimination in the Millisecond Range

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 172-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas H. Rammsayer
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Duration Discrimination ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Threshold Estimation ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Distributional Properties ◽  
Millisecond Range ◽  
Temporal Stimuli ◽  
Duration Discrimination Task

Duration discrimination in the range of milliseconds is essential for various aspects of behavior and individual differences. The present paper addresses important methodological issues, such as type of stimuli, type of task, method for threshold estimation, and temporal sensitivity of the psychophysical procedure, that should be borne in mind when developing a sensitive and reliable duration discrimination task. Furthermore, it introduces a psychophysical approach for the assessment of individual differences in duration discrimination of extremely brief intervals in the subsecond range. Monte Carlo simulations provide clear evidence that this task is sensitive enough to correctly detect a true difference between temporal stimuli as small as 2 ms with a high probability. Further, the distributional properties of individual performance scores obtained from 534 participants by means of the introduced duration discrimination task are presented.

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