Medial prefrontal cortex represents the object-based cognitive map when remembering an egocentric target location

AbstractA cognitive map, representing an environment around oneself, is necessary for spatial navigation. However, compared with its constituent elements such as individual landmarks, neural substrates of coherent spatial information remain largely unknown. The present study investigated how the brain codes map-like representations in a virtual environment specified by the relative positions of three objects. Representational similarity analysis revealed an object-based spatial representation in the hippocampus (HPC) when participants located themselves within the environment, while the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) represented it when they recollected a target object’s location relative to their self-body. During recollection, task-dependent functional connectivity increased between the two areas implying exchange of self- and target-location signals between the HPC and mPFC. Together, the coherent cognitive map, which could be formed by objects, may be recruited in the HPC and mPFC for complementary functions during navigation, which may generalize to other aspects of cognition, such as navigating social interactions.

Download Full-text

Medial Prefrontal Cortex Represents the Object-Based Cognitive Map When Remembering an Egocentric Target Location

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhaa117 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (10) ◽

pp. 5356-5371 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bo Zhang ◽

Yuji Naya

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Spatial Information ◽

Target Location ◽

Neural Substrates ◽

Cognitive Map ◽

Object Based ◽

The Individual ◽

Constituent Elements ◽

The Brain

Abstract A cognitive map, representing an environment around oneself, is necessary for spatial navigation. However, compared with its constituent elements such as individual landmarks, neural substrates of coherent spatial information, which consists in a relationship among the individual elements, remain largely unknown. The present study investigated how the brain codes map-like representations in a virtual environment specified by the relative positions of three objects. Representational similarity analysis revealed an object-based spatial representation in the hippocampus (HPC) when participants located themselves within the environment, while the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) represented it when they recollected a target object’s location relative to their self-body. During recollection, task-dependent functional connectivity increased between the two areas implying exchange of self-location and target location signals between the HPC and mPFC. Together, the object-based cognitive map, whose coherent spatial information could be formed by objects, may be recruited in the HPC and mPFC for complementary functions during navigation, which may generalize to other aspects of cognition, such as navigating social interactions.

Download Full-text

Novel Inferences in a Multidimensional Social Network Use a Grid-like Code

10.1101/2020.05.29.124651 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Seongmin A. Park ◽

Douglas S. Miller ◽

Erie D. Boorman

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Entorhinal Cortex ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Cognitive Map ◽

General Mechanism ◽

Temporoparietal Junction ◽

Flexible Behavior ◽

Discrete Problems

ABSTRACTGeneralizing experiences to guide decision making in novel situations is a hallmark of flexible behavior. It has been hypothesized such flexibility depends on a cognitive map of an environment or task, but directly linking the two has proven elusive. Here, we find that discretely sampled abstract relationships between entities in an unseen two-dimensional (2-D) social hierarchy are reconstructed into a unitary 2-D cognitive map in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. We further show that humans utilize a grid-like code in several brain regions, including entorhinal cortex and medial prefrontal cortex, for inferred direct trajectories between entities in the reconstructed abstract space during discrete decisions. Moreover, these neural grid-like codes in the entorhinal cortex predict neural decision value computations in the medial prefrontal cortex and temporoparietal junction area during choice. Collectively, these findings show that grid-like codes are used by the human brain to infer novel solutions, even in abstract and discrete problems, and suggest a general mechanism underpinning flexible decision making and generalization.

Download Full-text

Parallel updating and weighting of multiple spatial maps for visual stability during whole body motion

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00576.2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 114 (6) ◽

pp. 3211-3219 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

J. J. Tramper ◽

W. P. Medendorp

Keyword(s):

Reference Frame ◽

Reference Frames ◽

Spatial Information ◽

Target Location ◽

Visual Space ◽

Body Motion ◽

Whole Body ◽

Spatial Representations ◽

Integration Model ◽

The Brain

It is known that the brain uses multiple reference frames to code spatial information, including eye-centered and body-centered frames. When we move our body in space, these internal representations are no longer in register with external space, unless they are actively updated. Whether the brain updates multiple spatial representations in parallel, or whether it restricts its updating mechanisms to a single reference frame from which other representations are constructed, remains an open question. We developed an optimal integration model to simulate the updating of visual space across body motion in multiple or single reference frames. To test this model, we designed an experiment in which participants had to remember the location of a briefly presented target while being translated sideways. The behavioral responses were in agreement with a model that uses a combination of eye- and body-centered representations, weighted according to the reliability in which the target location is stored and updated in each reference frame. Our findings suggest that the brain simultaneously updates multiple spatial representations across body motion. Because both representations are kept in sync, they can be optimally combined to provide a more precise estimate of visual locations in space than based on single-frame updating mechanisms.

Download Full-text

Laser technique for anatomical-functional study of the medial prefrontal cortex of the brain

10.1117/12.347469 ◽

1999 ◽

Author(s):

Laura Sanchez-Huerta ◽

Adan Hernandez ◽

Griselda Ayala ◽

Javier Marroquin ◽

Adriana B. Silva ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Functional Study ◽

Laser Technique ◽

The Brain

Download Full-text

Choice-dependent cross-modal interaction in the medial prefrontal cortex of rats

10.21203/rs.3.rs-72344/v2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mengyao Zheng ◽

Jinghong Xu ◽

Les Keniston ◽

Jing Wu ◽

Song Chang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Simultaneous Presentation ◽

Enhancement Effect ◽

Modal Interaction ◽

Visual Cue ◽

Neural Activities ◽

Forced Choice Tasks ◽

Choice Tasks ◽

The Brain

Abstract Cross-modal interaction (CMI) could significantly influence the perceptional or decision-making process in many circumstances. However, it remains poorly understood what integrative strategies are employed by the brain to deal with different task contexts. To explore it, we examined neural activities of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of rats performing cue-guided two-alternative forced-choice tasks. In a task requiring rats to discriminate stimuli based on auditory cue, the simultaneous presentation of an uninformative visual cue substantially strengthened mPFC neurons' capability of auditory discrimination mainly through enhancing the response to the preferred cue. Doing this also increased the number of neurons revealing a cue preference. If the task was changed slightly and a visual cue, like the auditory, denoted a specific behavioral direction, mPFC neurons frequently showed a different CMI pattern with an effect of cross-modal enhancement best evoked in information-congruent multisensory trials. In a choice free task, however, the majority of neurons failed to show a cross-modal enhancement effect and cue preference. These results indicate that CMI at the neuronal level is context-dependent in a way that differs from what has been shown in previous studies.

Download Full-text

Integrating memories: Congruency and reactivation aid memory integration through reinstatement of prior knowledge

10.1101/716076 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Marlieke T.R. van Kesteren ◽

Paul Rignanese ◽

Pierre G. Gianferrara ◽

Lydia Krabbendam ◽

Martijn Meeter

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Prior Knowledge ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Medial Temporal Lobe ◽

Knowledge Building ◽

Activity Patterns ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Memory Integration ◽

The Brain ◽

Parahippocampal Place Area

AbstractBuilding consistent knowledge schemas that organize information and guide future learning is of great importance in everyday life. Such knowledge building is suggested to occur through reinstatement of prior knowledge during new learning in stimulus-specific brain regions. This process is proposed to yield integration of new with old memories, supported by the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and medial temporal lobe (MTL). Possibly as a consequence, congruency of new information with prior knowledge is known to enhance subsequent memory. Yet, it is unknown how reactivation and congruency interact to optimize memory integration processes that lead to knowledge schemas. To investigate this question, we here used an adapted AB-AC inference paradigm in combination with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Participants first studied an AB-association followed by an AC-association, so B (a scene) and C (an object) were indirectly linked through their common association with A (an unknown pseudoword). BC-associations were either congruent or incongruent with prior knowledge (e.g. a bathduck or a hammer in a bathroom), and participants were asked to report subjective reactivation strength for B while learning AC. Behaviorally, both the congruency and reactivation measures enhanced memory integration. In the brain, these behavioral effects related to univariate and multivariate parametric effects of congruency and reactivation on activity patterns in the MTL, mPFC, and Parahippocampal Place Area (PPA). Moreover, mPFC exhibited larger connectivity with the PPA for more congruent associations. These outcomes provide insights into the neural mechanisms underlying memory integration enhancement, which can be important for educational learning.Significance statementHow does our brain build knowledge through integrating information that is learned at different periods in time? This question is important in everyday learning situations such as educational settings. Using an inference paradigm, we here set out to investigate how congruency with, and active reactivation of previously learned information affects memory integration processes in the brain. Both these factors were found to relate to activity in memory-related regions such as the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the hippocampus. Moreover, activity in the parahippocampal place area (PPA), assumed to reflect reinstatement of the previously learned associate, was found to predict subjective reactivation strength. These results show how we can moderate memory integration processes to enhance subsequent knowledge building.

Download Full-text

Schema support for forming inferences in the human brain

10.1101/2021.11.15.466820 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

John Philippe Paulus ◽

Carlo Vignali ◽

Marc N Coutanche

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Human Brain ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Neural Representations ◽

Memory Integration ◽

New Information ◽

Neural Integration ◽

Two Factors ◽

Memory Schema ◽

The Brain

Associative inference, the process of drawing novel links between existing knowledge to rapidly integrate associated information, is supported by the hippocampus and neocortex. Within the neocortex, the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been implicated in the rapid cortical learning of new information that is congruent with an existing framework of knowledge, or schema. How the brain integrates associations to form inferences, specifically how inferences are represented, is not well understood. In this study, we investigate how the brain uses schemas to facilitate memory integration in an associative inference paradigm (A-B-C-D). We conducted two event-related fMRI experiments in which participants retrieved previously learned direct (AB, BC, CD) and inferred (AC, AD) associations between word pairs for items that are schema congruent or incongruent. Additionally, we investigated how two factors known to affect memory, a delay with sleep, and reward, modulate the neural integration of associations within, and between, schema. Schema congruency was found to benefit the integration of associates, but only when retrieval immediately follows learning. RSA revealed that neural patterns of inferred pairs (AC) in the PHc, mPFC, and posHPC were more similar to their constituents (AB and BC) when the items were schema congruent, suggesting that schema facilitates the assimilation of paired items into a single inferred unit containing all associated elements. Furthermore, a delay with sleep, but not reward, impacted the assimilation of inferred pairs. Our findings reveal that the neural representations of overlapping associations are integrated into novel representations through the support of memory schema.

Download Full-text

Proteomic Profiling of Astrocytic O-GlcNAc Transferase-Related Proteins in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex

Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnmol.2021.729975 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 ◽

Author(s):

Jun Fan ◽

Qiu-Ling Zhong ◽

Ran Mo ◽

Cheng-Lin Lu ◽

Jing Ren ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Transferase Activity ◽

Proteomic Profiling ◽

Major Energy Source ◽

Altered Proteins ◽

Glcnac Transferase ◽

Related Proteins ◽

The Brain

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a key part of the brain networks that are closely related to the regulation of behavior, acts as a key regulator in emotion, social cognition, and decision making. Astrocytes are the majority cell type of glial cells, which play a significant role in a number of processes and establish a suitable environment for the functioning of neurons, including the brain energy metabolism. Astrocyte’s dysfunction in the mPFC has been implicated in various neuropsychiatric disorders. Glucose is a major energy source in the brain. In glucose metabolism, part of glucose is used to convert UDP-GlcNAc as a donor molecule for O-GlcNAcylation, which is controlled by a group of enzymes, O-GlcNAc transferase enzyme (OGT), and O-GlcNAcase (OGA). However, the role of O-GlcNAcylation in astrocytes is almost completely unknown. Our research showed that astrocytic OGT could influence the expression of proteins in the mPFC. Most of these altered proteins participate in metabolic processes, transferase activity, and biosynthetic processes. GFAP, an astrocyte maker, was increased after OGT deletion. These results provide a framework for further study on the role of astrocytic OGT/O-GlcNAcylation in the mPFC.

Download Full-text

Selective prefrontal cortex responses to joint attention in early infancy

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2009.1069 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 540-543 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

Tobias Grossmann ◽

Mark H. Johnson

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Language Learning ◽

Social Interactions ◽

Joint Attention ◽

Near Infrared ◽

Human Infant ◽

Cultural Learning ◽

Triadic Interactions ◽

The Brain ◽

Made In

The process by which two people share attention towards the same object or event is called joint attention. Joint attention and the underlying triadic representations between self, other person and object are thought to be unique to humans, supporting teaching, cooperation and language learning. Despite the progress that has been made in understanding the behavioural importance of joint attention during early social development, almost nothing is known about the brain substrate that supports joint attention in the developing infant. We examined responses in five-month-old infants' prefrontal cortex during triadic social interactions using near-infrared spectroscopy. The results demonstrate that, even by the age of five months, infants are sensitive to triadic interactions and, like adults, they recruit a specific brain region localized in left dorsal prefrontal cortex when engaged in joint attention with another person. This suggests that the human infant is neurobiologically prepared for sharing attention with other humans, which may provide the basis for a wide variety of uniquely human social and cultural learning processes.

Download Full-text