Functional division and interaction among prefrontal cortical areas

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26250011
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Neurophysiology / General neuroscience
• Research Institution: Institute of Physical and Chemical Research
• Principal Investigator: Tanaka Keiji 国立研究開発法人理化学研究所, 脳科学総合研究センター, チームリーダー (00221391)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): HIGO TAKAYASU 国立研究開発法人理化学研究所, 脳科学総合研究センター, 研究員 (10396757)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 認知制御 / 執行機能 / ウィスコンシンカード分類課題 / 前帯状溝皮質 / 主溝皮質 / 尾状核

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To uncover the functional interaction between prefrontal cortical areas, we have conducted simultaneous local-field-potential recordings from the monkeys performing a cognitively demanding task with frequent rule switches. We have also developed a projection-specific functional blockage method with virus vectors. In the recording experiments, the anterior cingulate sulcus area, principal sulcus area, and caudate head increased the power of activities in low-beta frequency band (~15Hz) at the initial fixation period of each trial and at the inter-trial interval, and these activities in the three regions were synchronized. The transient increase of the synchronized activities suggests that the three regions exchanged signals specifically in these time epochs.

Free Research Field

認知脳科学