Representing the dynamics of natural marmoset vocal behaviors in frontal cortex

Here, we tested the respective contributions of primate premotor and prefrontal cortex to support vocal behavior. We applied a model-based generalized linear model (GLM) analysis that better accounts for the inherent variance in natural, continuous behaviors to characterize the activity of neurons throughout the frontal cortex as freely moving marmosets engaged in conversational exchanges. While analyses revealed functional clusters of neural activity related to the different processes involved in the vocal behavior, these clusters did not map to subfields of prefrontal or premotor cortex, as has been observed in more conventional task-based paradigms. Our results suggest a distributed functional organization for the myriad neural mechanisms underlying natural social interactions and have implications for our concepts of the role that frontal cortex plays in governing ethological behaviors in primates.