Impact of Expected Reward on Neuronal Activity in Prefrontal Cortex, Frontal and Supplementary Eye Fields and Premotor Cortex

2003 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 1766-1789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Roesch ◽  
Carl R. Olson
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Motor Preparation ◽  
Motor Output ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Eye Field

In several regions of the macaque brain, neurons fire during delayed response tasks at a rate determined by the value of the reward expected at the end of the trial. The activity of these neurons might be related either to the internal representation of the appetitive value of the expected reward or to motivation-dependent variations in the monkey's level of motor preparation or motor output. According to the first interpretation, reward-related activity should be most prominent in areas affiliated with the limbic system. According to the second interpretation, it should be most prominent in areas affiliated with the motor system. To distinguish between these alternatives, we carried out single-neuron recording while monkeys performed a memory-guided saccade task in which a visual cue presented early in each trial indicated whether the reward would be large or small. Neuronal activity accompanying task performance was monitored in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), the frontal eye field (FEF), a transitional zone caudal to the frontal eye field (FEF/PM), premotor cortex (PM), the supplementary eye field (SEF), and the rostral part of the supplementary motor area (SMAr). The tendency for neuronal activity to increase after cues that predicted a large reward became progressively stronger in progressively more posterior areas both in the lateral sector of the frontal lobe (PFC < FEF < FEF/PM < PM) and in the medial sector (SEF < SMAr). The very strong reward-related activity of premotor neurons was presumably attributable to the monkey's motivation-dependent level of motor preparation or motor output. This finding points to the need to determine whether reward-related activity in other nonlimbic brain areas, including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the dorsal striatum, genuinely represents the value of the expected reward or, alternatively, is related to motivational modulation of motor signals.

scholarly journals Errors of Memory-Guided Saccades in Humans With Lesions of the Frontal Eye Field and the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex

1999 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 1086-1090 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph J. Ploner ◽  
Sophie Rivaud-Péchoux ◽  
Bertrand M. Gaymard ◽  
Yves Agid ◽  
Charles Pierrot-Deseilligny
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Systematic Errors ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
Variable Errors

Behavioral studies in monkeys and humans suggest that systematic and variable errors of memory-guided saccades reflect distinct neuronal computations in primate spatial memory. We recorded memory-guided saccades with a 2-s delay in three patients with unilateral ischemic lesions of the frontal eye field and in three patients with unilateral ischemic lesions of the frontal eye field and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Results suggest that systematic errors of memory-guided saccades originate in the frontal eye field and variable errors in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These data are the first human lesion data to support the hypothesis that these regions provide functionally distinct contributions to spatial short-term memory.

scholarly journals Macaque Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Does not Suppress Saccade-Related Activity in the Superior Colliculus

2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 1373-1388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Johnston ◽  
Michael J. Koval ◽  
Stephen G. Lomber ◽  
Stefan Everling
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal

scholarly journals Cortical Regions Involved in the Generation of Musical Structures during Improvisation in Pianists

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 830-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara L. Bengtsson ◽  
Mihály Csíkszentmihályi ◽  
Fredrik Ullén
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Response Selection ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Posterior Part ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
The Right ◽  
Musical Creation

Studies on simple pseudorandom motor and cognitive tasks have shown that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and rostral premotor areas are involved in free response selection. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate whether these brain regions are also involved in free generation of responses in a more complex creative behavior: musical improvisation. Eleven professional pianists participated in the study. In one condition, Improvise, the pianist improvised on the basis of a visually displayed melody. In the control condition, Reproduce, the participant reproduced his previous improvisation from memory. Participants were able to reproduce their improvisations with a high level of accuracy, and the contrast Improvise versus Reproduce was thus essentially matched in terms of motor output and sensory feedback. However, the Improvise condition required storage in memory of the improvisation. We therefore also included a condition FreeImp, where the pianist improvised but was instructed not to memorize his performance. To locate brain regions involved in musical creation, we investigated the activations in the Improvise-Reproduce contrast that were also present in FreeImp contrasted with a baseline rest condition. Activated brain regions included the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the presupplementary motor area, the rostral portion of the dorsal premotor cortex, and the left posterior part of the superior temporal gyrus. We suggest that these regions are part of a network involved in musical creation, and discuss their possible functional roles.

scholarly journals Caudate stimulation enhances learning

Brain ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 142 (10) ◽  
pp. 2930-2937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah K Bick ◽  
Shaun R Patel ◽  
Husam A Katnani ◽  
Noam Peled ◽  
Alik Widge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Associative Learning ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Memory Disorders ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Depth Electrodes ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Promising Treatment ◽  
Seizure Localization

Neuromodulation offers the possibility of precise alteration of disordered neural circuits. In patients with depth electrodes implanted for seizure localization, Bick et al. show that caudate stimulation improves associative learning and modulates learning-related activity in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Caudate stimulation may be a promising treatment for memory disorders.

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Enables Updating of Established Memories

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 4154-4168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Marieke Kluen ◽  
Lisa Catherine Dandolo ◽  
Gerhard Jocham ◽  
Lars Schwabe
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Future Behavior ◽  
New Information ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Increased Activity ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Updating established memories in light of new information is fundamental for memory to guide future behavior. However, little is known about the brain mechanisms by which existing memories can be updated. Here, we combined functional magnetic resonance imaging and multivariate representational similarity analysis to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying the updating of consolidated memories. To this end, participants first learned face–city name pairs. Twenty-four hours later, while lying in the MRI scanner, participants were required to update some of these associations, but not others, and to encode entirely new pairs. Updating success was tested again 24 h later. Our results showed increased activity of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) specifically during the updating of existing associations that was significantly stronger than when simple retrieval or new encoding was required. The updating-related activity of the dlPFC and its functional connectivity with the hippocampus were directly linked to updating success. Furthermore, neural similarity for updated items was markedly higher in the dlPFC and this increase in dlPFC neural similarity distinguished individuals with high updating performance from those with low updating performance. Together, these findings suggest a key role of the dlPFC, presumably in interaction with the hippocampus, in the updating of established memories.

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