Orbitofrontal value dynamics and striatal population geometry during interruption of automatic behavior

A core feature of cognitive control is the ability to interrupt behaviors that conflict with current goals. Disorders impairing this ability involve abnormal interactions between the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the caudate nucleus (CdN). However, how these regions normally interact to interrupt automatic behaviors remains unknown. To find out, we trained monkeys on a decision task that created a conflict between competing value representations, thus evoking an automatic-then-controlled response pattern that provided a window into how initial responses are interrupted and overridden. Simultaneous OFC-CdN Neuropixels recordings revealed that during corrective responses, OFC population dynamics vacillated between competing value states. These dynamics appeared to be transmitted to the CdN via enhanced local field potential synchronization, which coincided with disruption of structured CdN population activity. Critically, this occurred without changes in striatal firing rate. This suggests that interrupting an automatic response can occur through top-down disruption of striatal population geometry without suppressing firing rates.