Strategic neuronal encoding in medial prefrontal cortex of spatial working memory in the T-maze.

Strategic neuronal encoding in medial prefrontal cortex of spatial working memory in the T-maze.
Behav Brain Res. 2018 Jan 26;:
Authors: Yang Y, Mailman R
Abstract
Strategic neuronal encoding in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of the rat was correlated with spatial working memory (sWM) assessed by behavior in the T-maze. Neurons increased their firing rate around choice, with the increase largely occurring before choice as a prospective encode of behavior. This could be classified as sensitive-to-spatial information or sensitive-to-choice outcome. The sensitivity-to-spatial choice was defined by distinct firing rate changes before left- or right-choice. The percentage of left-choice sensitive neurons was not different from the percentage of right-choice sensitive neurons. There was also location-related neuronal activity in which neurons fired at distinct rates when rats were in a left- or right-location. More neurons were sensitive to left-location, as most of them were recorded from rats preferring to enter the right-location. The sensitivity to outcome was defined by a distinct firing rate around correct or error choice. Significantly more neurons were sensitive to error outcome, and, among these, more preferred to encode prospectively, increasing firing in advance of an error outcome. Similar to single neuron activity, the mPFC enhanced its neuronal network as measured by the oscillation of local field potential. The maximum ...

Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 26, 2018 Category: Neurology Authors: Yang Y, Mailman R Tags: Behav Brain Res Source Type: research