Causal relationship between the PFC activities and the extrastriate object signals
About
Vision is the process of understanding the external world using light as input. Our knowledge about object recognition in temporal pathway is systematically investigated. However, the relationship between the PFC activity and the extrastriate object signal remained unanswered. The existence of neural representation for visual information in the cognitive control brain areas and the role of PFC in sensory modulation are the main questions.
Prefrontal activity enhances visual cortical representations of stimuli during covert attention; could prefrontal cortex similarly modulate mnemonic representations to aid memory maintenance? In our recent work we showed that frontotemporal coordination predicts working memory performance and its local neural signatures.
Goals
We studied the responses of inferotemporal (IT) neurons, which exhibit object-selective activity, along with Frontal Eye Field (FEF) neurons, which exhibit spatially selective activity, during the delay period of an object WM task. Unlike the spiking activity and local field potentials (LFPs) within these areas, which were poor predictors of behavioral performance, the phase-locking of IT spikes and LFPs with the beta band of FEF LFPs robustly predicted successful WM maintenance. In addition, IT neurons exhibited greater object-selective persistent activity when their spikes were locked to the phase of FEF LFPs. These results demonstrate a key role of coordination between prefrontal and temporal cortex in the successful maintenance of visual information during WM.
Researchers
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Mohammad-Reza Abolghasemi Dehaqani
abolghasemi@ipm.ir
Ehsan Rezayat
rezayat [at] ipm [dot] ir
Collaborators
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Behrad Noudoost
behrad.noudoost[at]utah[dot]edu
Tirin Moore
tirin[at]Stanford[dot]edu
Kelsey Clark
kelsey.clark[at][gmail[dot]com
Zahra Bahmani
Zabahmani[at]gmail[dot]com
Achievements and Future works
We have shown that repeated reward experience enables primates to efficiently locate good objects when searching for reward [5]. Besides, our recent results have implicated temporal-prefrontal circuitry along with functionally connected subcortical regions in the implicit and high-capacity memory for long-term retention of object values (1). In another study, we showed that the primate prefrontal cortex represents both flexible short-term and stable long-term high-capacity memories, which could prioritize valuable objects far into the future [2]. Currently, we are investigating the neural mechanism of value-driven visual search in non-human primates and also the neural networks of value memory in humans. Additionally, we are investigating common and dissociable neural mechanism for novelty [4], aversiveness and risk with respect to reward [3]. These findings will shed light on the neural basis of long-term value-based memories with implications for maladaptive behaviors such as drug addiction and obesity.
Selected Publications
[1] Ghazizadeh et al, PNAS, 2018 [2] Ghazizadeh et al, Current Biology 2018 [3] Ghazizadeh et al, Frontiers Neuroscience, 2016 [4] Ghazizadeh et al, Biorxiv, 2019 [5] Ghazizadeh et al, Journal of Vision, 2016 [6] Daneshi et al, Scientific Reports, 2019 [7] Ghazizadeh et al, J Neurophys, 2010 [8] Ataei et al, Int Conf Sampling Theory, 2019
Collaborators
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Laboratory of sensorimotor research, National Institutes of Health Motor control lab, Johns Hopkins University Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, Marseille University of Melbourne, Australia
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Date: January 2020
Client: Lines
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Date: January 2020
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