1. Increases in Functional Connectivity between Prefrontal Cortex and Striatum during Category Learning
- Author
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Antzoulatos, Evan G., Miller, Earl K., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Antzoulatos, Evan G., and Miller, Earl K.
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Nerve net ,Neuroscience(all) ,Decision Making ,Prefrontal Cortex ,Striatum ,Article ,Random Allocation ,Concept learning ,Neural Pathways ,Basal ganglia ,medicine ,Animals ,Learning ,10. No inequality ,Prefrontal cortex ,General Neuroscience ,Functional connectivity ,Cognition ,social sciences ,medicine.disease ,Corpus Striatum ,humanities ,eye diseases ,3. Good health ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,nervous system ,Schizophrenia ,Macaca ,Female ,Nerve Net ,Psychology ,Neuroscience ,Photic Stimulation ,Psychomotor Performance ,geographic locations - Abstract
Functional connectivity between the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and striatum (STR) is thought critical for cognition and has been linked to conditions like autism and schizophrenia. We recorded from multiple electrodes in PFC and STR while monkeys acquired new categories. Category learning was accompanied by an increase in beta band synchronization of LFPs between, but not within, the PFC and STR. After learning, different pairs of PFC-STR electrodes showed stronger synchrony for one or the other category, suggesting category-specific functional circuits. This category-specific synchrony was also seen between PFC spikes and STR LFPs, but not the reverse, reflecting the direct monosynaptic connections from the PFC to STR. However, causal connectivity analyses suggested that the polysynaptic connections from STR to the PFC exerted a stronger overall influence. This supports models positing that the basal ganglia “train” the PFC. Category learning may depend on the formation of functional circuits between the PFC and STR., National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.) (5R01MH065252-12), Picower Foundation
- Published
- 2014
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