Indirection and symbol-like processing in the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Computational Neuroscience

Background:

• Human behavior is characterized by the ability to perform novel tasks flexibly and accurately.
• This cognitive flexibility is thought to depend on symbol processing, involving variable representation and binding.
• The neural basis of symbol processing, particularly variable binding in the brain, remains largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how the brain supports variable binding, a key component of symbol processing.
• To propose a biologically plausible mechanism for variable binding in the prefrontal cortex/basal ganglia working memory system.
• To explore how this mechanism enables generalization and systematicity in behavior.

Main Methods:

• Modeling the prefrontal cortex/basal ganglia working memory system.
• Investigating the role of neural indirection (pointers) in supporting variable binding.
• Analyzing how the proposed mechanism supports behavioral generalization.

Main Results:

• The prefrontal cortex/basal ganglia system can support variable binding through a mechanism of neural indirection.
• Indirection allows the system to generalize behavior beyond direct experience, demonstrating systematicity.
• This neural mechanism approximates key aspects of computational symbol processing.

Conclusions:

• Neural indirection provides a plausible mechanism for variable binding in the brain.
• This mechanism contributes to cognitive flexibility and systematicity in human-like task performance.
• The findings offer insights into the neural underpinnings of symbol processing and its computational principles.