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Poster B5 in Poster Session B - Thursday, August 8, 2024, 1:30 – 3:30 pm, Johnson Ice Rink
Neural Dynamics in Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Underlying Flexible Perceptual Decision-Making
Tian Wang1 (), Kenji Lee1, Nicole Carr1, Chandramouli Chandrasekaran1; 1Boston University
How neural dynamics in prefrontal cortex lead to flexible perceptual decisions is not fully understood. We trained monkeys to discriminate the dominant color (sensory input) of a red-green checkerboard and reached and touched a target that matched the dominant color of the checkerboard. Target configurations were randomized to decouple color choice signals from action choice signals. Neurons in DLPFC covaried more with target configuration and color choice compared to neurons in area 8 and dorsal premotor cortex (PMd). Neural trajectories in DLPFC first separated as a function of target configuration, and then after checkerboard onset separate by both color and action choice. To derive a mechanistic understanding, we trained a low-rank task recurrent neural network (RNN) model and found that its PC trajectories resembled those of DLPFC. Subsequent fixed-point analysis of the RNN suggest that the sustained inputs from the targets leads to two stable regions for target configuration and subsequent color inputs from the checkerboard leads to stable fixed points for the four possible combinations of color and action choice (e.g, red and left etc). Together, these results show that DLPFC likely mediates flexible perceptual decisions, and posit a candidate input-mediated dynamical mechanism.
Keywords: Prefrontal Cortex Decision-making Dimensionality Reduction RNN