Decoding a Perceptual Decision Process across Cortex

Perceptual decisions arise from the activity of neurons distributed across brain circuits. But, decoding the mechanisms behind this cognitive operation across brain circuits has long posed a difficult problem. We recorded the neuronal activity of diverse cortical areas, while monkeys performed a vib...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Mass.), 2010-04, Vol.66 (2), p.300-314
Main Authors: Hernández, Adrián, Nácher, Verónica, Luna, Rogelio, Zainos, Antonio, Lemus, Luis, Alvarez, Manuel, Vázquez, Yuriria, Camarillo, Liliana, Romo, Ranulfo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Behavior
Brain
Brain Mapping
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
Choice Behavior - physiology
Discrimination Learning - physiology
Electrophysiology
Macaca mulatta
Nerve Net - physiology
Neurons
Neurons - physiology
Neuropsychological Tests
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Physical Stimulation
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
SYSNEURO
Vibration
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Summary:Perceptual decisions arise from the activity of neurons distributed across brain circuits. But, decoding the mechanisms behind this cognitive operation across brain circuits has long posed a difficult problem. We recorded the neuronal activity of diverse cortical areas, while monkeys performed a vibrotactile discrimination task. We find that the encoding of the stimuli during the stimulus periods, working memory, and comparison periods is widely distributed across cortical areas. Notably, during the comparison and postponed decision report periods the activity of frontal brain circuits encode both the result of the sensory evaluation that corresponds to the monkey's possible choices and past information on which the decision is based. These results suggest that frontal lobe circuits are more engaged in the readout of sensory information from working memory, when it is required to be compared with other sensory inputs, than simply engaged in motor responses during this task. ► Brain circuits contribute to the processing steps that link sensation and action ► Temporal evolution of a decision-making process across cortex ► Sensory to motor transformation across cortex during decision making ► Frontal lobe circuits combine stored and current information during decision making
ISSN:0896-6273
1097-4199
DOI:10.1016/j.neuron.2010.03.031