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Prefrontal neurons coding suppression of specific saccades.
Ryohei P Hasegawa1, Barry W Peterson, Michael E Goldberg
1Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. r-hasegawa@aist.go.jp
Neuron
|August 6, 2004
Summary
Researchers identified "don't look" neurons in the frontal cortex that actively suppress unwanted behavior. This neurophysiological evidence reveals a mechanism for inhibiting specific actions during cognitive tasks.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Primate Behavior
Background:
- The prefrontal cortex is known to be involved in suppressing unwanted behaviors, based on studies of individuals with prefrontal lesions.
- However, direct neurophysiological evidence for the mechanisms underlying specific behavioral suppression has been limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neurophysiological mechanisms of behavioral suppression in the prefrontal cortex.
- To identify neural signals associated with the active inhibition of specific actions.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an oculomotor delayed match/nonmatch-to-sample task in monkeys.
- Monkeys were trained to remember stimulus locations as either targets to look at or locations to avoid.
Main Results:
- Identified a population of neurons in the frontal eye field and caudal prefrontal cortex exhibiting selective activity for forbidden stimuli.
- The activity of these "don't look" neurons correlated with task performance, indicating their role in successful suppression.
- Demonstrated a frontal neural signal directly related to the active suppression of one action during the performance of another.
Conclusions:
- These findings provide direct neurophysiological evidence for a frontal mechanism involved in active behavioral suppression.
- The identified "don't look" neurons play a crucial role in inhibiting specific actions, contributing to goal-directed behavior.