Prefrontal-inferotemporal interaction is not always necessary for reversal learning.

Full Abstract

Prefrontal cortex (PFC) is thought to have a wide-ranging role in cognition, often described as executive function or behavioral inhibition. A specific example of such a role is the inhibition of representations in more posterior regions of cortex in a "top-down" manner, a function thought to be tested by reversal learning tasks. The direct action of PFC on posterior regions can be directly tested by disconnecting PFC from the region in question. We tested whether PFC directly inhibits visual object representations in inferotemporal cortex (IT) during reversal learning by studying the effect, in macaque monkeys, of disconnecting PFC from IT by crossed unilateral ablations. We tested two visual object reversal learning tasks, namely serial and concurrent reversal learning. We found that the disconnection severely impairs serial reversal learning but leaves concurrent reversal learning completely intact. Thus, PFC cannot be said to always have direct inhibitory control over visual object representations in reversal learning. Furthermore, our results cannot be explained by generalized theories of PFC function such as executive function and behavioral inhibition, because those theories do not make predictions that differentiate different forms of reversal learning. The results do, however, support our proposal, based on other experimental evidence from macaque monkeys, that PFC has a highly specific role in the representation of temporally complex events.

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Author information

Author/s: Wilson, Charles R E (CR); Gaffan, David (D);

Affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3UD, United Kingdom. charles.wilson(-atsign-)psy.ox.ac.uk

Grants: (Agency:United Kingdom Medical Research Council)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience (J Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-May; vol 28 (issue 21) : pp 5529-38

Dates: Created 2008/05/22; Completed 2008/06/26;

PMID: 18495887, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Analysis of Variance
Animals
Behavior, Animal
Brain Mapping
Discrimination Learning - physiology
Functional Laterality
Macaca fascicularis

Male
Photic Stimulation
Prefrontal Cortex - injuries; physiology
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Reversal Learning - physiology
Reward
Temporal Lobe - injuries; physiology

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