Synchronous Oscillatory Neural Ensembles for Rules in the Prefrontal Cortex
Name
Cognitive Flexibility with supplemental.pdf
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3.15 MB
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Author(s)
Buschman, Timothy J.
Denovellis, Eric L.
Diogo, Cinira
Bullock, Daniel
Miller, Earl K.
Miller, Earl K.
Buschman, Timothy J.
Date Issued
November 2012
Journal
Neuron
Publisher
Elsevier
Citation
Buschman, Timothy J., Eric L. Denovellis, Cinira Diogo, Daniel Bullock, and Earl K. Miller. “Synchronous Oscillatory Neural Ensembles for Rules in the Prefrontal Cortex.” Neuron 76, no. 4 (November 2012): 838–846.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Intelligent behavior requires acquiring and following rules. Rules define how our behavior should fit different situations. To understand its neural mechanisms, we simultaneously recorded from multiple electrodes in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) while monkeys switched between two rules (respond to color versus orientation). We found evidence that oscillatory synchronization of local field potentials (LFPs) formed neural ensembles representing the rules: there were rule-specific increases in synchrony at “beta” (19–40 Hz) frequencies between electrodes. In addition, individual PFC neurons synchronized to the LFP ensemble corresponding to the current rule (color versus orientation). Furthermore, the ensemble encoding the behaviorally dominant orientation rule showed increased “alpha” (6–16 Hz) synchrony when preparing to apply the alternative (weaker) color rule. This suggests that beta-frequency synchrony selects the relevant rule ensemble, while alpha-frequency synchrony deselects a stronger, but currently irrelevant, ensemble. Synchrony may act to dynamically shape task-relevant neural ensembles out of larger, overlapping circuits.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT
Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2012.09.029
