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

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.

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

Molecular Brain ◽

10.1186/s13041-021-00732-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

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

AbstractCross-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.

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A detection theoretic explanation of blindsight suggests a link between conscious perception and metacognition

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2011.0380 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 367 (1594) ◽

pp. 1401-1411 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Yoshiaki Ko ◽

Hakwan Lau

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Signal Detection Theory ◽

Computational Simulation ◽

Forced Choice ◽

Simulation Data ◽

Visual Tasks ◽

Trial Basis ◽

Forced Choice Tasks ◽

Choice Tasks ◽

Confidence Ratings

Blindsight refers to the rare ability of V1-damaged patients to perform visual tasks such as forced-choice discrimination, even though these patients claim not to consciously see the relevant stimuli. This striking phenomenon can be described in the formal terms of signal detection theory. (i) Blindsight patients use an unusually conservative criterion to detect targets. (ii) In discrimination tasks, their confidence ratings are low and (iii) such confidence ratings poorly predict task accuracy on a trial-by-trial basis. (iv) Their detection capacity ( d ′) is lower than expected based on their performance in forced-choice tasks. We propose a unifying explanation that accounts for these features: that blindsight is due to a failure to represent and update the statistical information regarding the internal visual neural response, i.e. a failure in metacognition. We provide computational simulation data to demonstrate that this model can qualitatively account for the detection theoretic features of blindsight. Because such metacognitive mechanisms are likely to depend on the prefrontal cortex, this suggests that although blindsight is typically due to damage to the primary visual cortex, distal influence to the prefrontal cortex by such damage may be critical. Recent brain imaging evidence supports this view.

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Sex specific recruitment of a medial prefrontal cortex-hippocampal-thalamic system during context-dependent renewal of responding to food cues in rats

Neurobiology of Learning and Memory ◽

10.1016/j.nlm.2016.12.004 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 139 ◽

pp. 11-21 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Lauren C. Anderson ◽

Gorica D. Petrovich

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Food Cues ◽

Context Dependent

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Gender Differences in the Mental Rotations Test (MRT) Are Not Due to Task Complexity

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001.29.3.130 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 29 (3) ◽

pp. 130-133 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Corinna Titze ◽

Martin Heil ◽

Petra Jansen

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Mental Rotation ◽

Task Complexity ◽

Time Constraints ◽

Medium Effects ◽

Performance Factors ◽

Mental Rotations ◽

Sufficient Power ◽

Forced Choice Tasks ◽

Choice Tasks

Gender differences are one of the main topics in mental rotation research. This paper focuses on the influence of the performance factor task complexity by using two versions of the Mental Rotations Test (MRT). Some 300 participants completed the test without time constraints, either in the regular version or with a complexity reducing template creating successive two-alternative forced-choice tasks. Results showed that the complexity manipulation did not affect the gender differences at all. These results were supported by a sufficient power to detect medium effects. Although performance factors seem to play a role in solving mental rotation problems, we conclude that the variation of task complexity as realized in the present study did not.

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