Behavioral engagement and stimulus regularities coordinate auditory-prefrontal network activity

The ability to detect deviations from expected sensory input is fundamental for adaptive behavior. We recorded electrocorticographic activity from the auditory (AC) and prefrontal (PFC) cortices of behaving macaques during an auditory oddball task to probe the cortical dynamics of predictive processing. Repetition of standard stimuli evoked suppression and facilitation in AC and strong low-frequency (2 Hz) enhancement in PFC, accompanied by bidirectional delta-band GC-defined interactions indicative of a shared predictive state. Deviant stimuli triggered earlier AC responses followed by PFC activation and increased GC-defined directed interactions across theta, alpha, and conventional gamma bands. Behavioral engagement amplified both repetition-related and deviance-related ECoG responses, strengthening cortical network coordination. Together, these findings reveal behaviorally gated auditory-prefrontal dynamics that are consistent with hierarchical predictive-processing accounts, while also allowing for contributions from repetition-, novelty-, and salience-related mechanisms.