Abstract
Storing information from incoming stimuli in working memory (WM) is essential for decision-making. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a key role to support this process. Previous studies have characterized different neuronal populations in the PFC for working memory judgements based on whether an originally presented stimulus matches a subsequently presented one (matching-rule decision-making). However, much remains to be understood about this mechanism at the population level of PFC neurons. Here, we hypothesized differences in processing of feature vs. spatial WM within the PFC during a matching-rule decision-making task. To test this hypothesis, the modulation of neural activity within the PFC during two types of decision-making tasks (spatial WM and feature WM) in comparison to a passive fixation task was determined. We discovered that neural population-level activity within the PFC is different for the match vs. non-match condition exclusively in the case of the feature-specific decision-making task. For this task, the non-match condition exhibited a greater firing rate and lower trial-to-trial variability in spike count compared to the feature-match condition. Furthermore, the feature-match condition exhibited lower variability compared to the spatial-match condition. This was accompanied by a faster behavioral response time for the feature-match compared to the spatial-match WM task. We attribute this lower across-trial spiking variability and behavioral response time to a higher task-relevant attentional level in the feature WM compared to the spatial WM task. The findings support our hypothesis for task-specific differences in the processing of feature vs. spatial WM within the PFC. This also confirms the general conclusion that PFC neurons play an important role during the process of matching-rule governed decision-making.
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Data availability
The data that support the current findings are deposited to the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy database. Requests for data should be directed to the Prof. C. Constantinidis: cconstan@wfubmc.edu.
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Acknowledgements
The project was supported by the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy database. We would like to thank Dr. Shima T. Moein, and Dr. Morteza Saraf for their comments on the manuscript.
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MPD and MRD designed the current study. CC designed the behavioral task and provided the data. MPD and MZ analyzed the data, prepared figures, and drafted the manuscript. All authors edited the manuscript.
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Parto Dezfouli, M., Zarei, M., Constantinidis, C. et al. Task-specific modulation of PFC activity for matching-rule governed decision-making. Brain Struct Funct 226, 443–455 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-020-02191-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-020-02191-7