Toward understanding of neural mechanisms underlynig cognitive capacity limitation.

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K21686
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Experimental psychology; Cognitive science
• Research Institution: National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
• Principal Investigator: Watanabe Kei 国立研究開発法人情報通信研究機構, 脳情報通信融合研究センター脳情報通信融合研究室, 研究員 (00772740)
• Research Collaborator: Masayuki Hirata 大阪大学, 国際医工情報センター 寄付研究部門, 教授 (30372626)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 神経生理学 / 前頭極 / 前頭連合野 / マルチニューロン活動 / テストバッテリー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) plays a critical role in cognition. Recent popular hypotheses in humans argue that the more anterior LPFC process more abstract and complex information, while more posterior regions process more concrete action information.
This study aimed to test these hypotheses by analyzing neural activity in primate areas 10, 46 and 9/46, while monkeys performed 7 kinds of cognitive tasks. The result showed that strong encoding of task information was observed almost exclusively in posterior LPFC (9/46), while anterior LPFC (10) showed much weaker responses to task-related information. Area 10 showed notable selectivity only in feedback period. Area 10 cells encoded the conjunction of what the subject did and whether that behavior was preferable or not in the current situation. These results suggest that there is distinct functional subdivision within LPFC in monkeys, but in a different way from that proposed by the functional gradient hypotheses in humans.

Free Research Field

認知神経科学