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Evaluating self-generated decisions in frontal pole cortex of monkeys

Nature Neuroscience volume 13, pages 120–126 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

The frontal pole cortex (FPC) expanded markedly during human evolution, but its function remains uncertain in both monkeys and humans. Accordingly, we examined single-cell activity in this area. On every trial, monkeys decided between two response targets on the basis of a 'stay' or 'shift' cue. Feedback followed at a fixed delay. FPC cells did not encode the monkeys' decisions when they were made, but did so later on, as feedback approached. This finding indicates that the FPC is involved in monitoring or evaluating decisions. Using a control task and delayed feedback, we found that decision coding lasted until feedback only when the monkeys combined working memory with sensory cues to 'self-generate' decisions, as opposed to when they simply followed trial-by-trial instructions. A role in monitoring or evaluating self-generated decisions could account for FPC's expansion during human evolution.

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Figure 1: Task and cues.
Figure 2: Decision-selective activity in the visually cued strategy task.
Figure 3: Decision-selective activity by task period.
Figure 4: Population activity on error trials.
Figure 5: Effect of delayed feedback.
Figure 6: Decision-selective activity in the fluid-cued strategy task.
Figure 7: Activity in the delayed-response task.
Figure 8: Recording locations.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Bunge, G. di Pellegrino, E. Murray, R. Passingham, N. Ramnani and P. Rudebeck for comments on drafts of this manuscript. A. Mitz, J. Fellows and P.-Y. Chen provided technical support. This work was supported by the Division of Intramural Research of the National Institute of Mental Health (Z01MH-01092) and by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (21119513) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. S.T. was supported by a research fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Systems Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, US National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Satoshi Tsujimoto, Aldo Genovesio & Steven P Wise

  2. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University, Nada-Ku, Kobe, Japan

    Satoshi Tsujimoto

  3. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Aldo Genovesio

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  1. Satoshi Tsujimoto
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S.T. and S.P.W. conceived and designed the experiment. S.T. and A.G. performed the experiment and analyzed the data. S.T., A.G. and S.P.W. wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Satoshi Tsujimoto.

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Tsujimoto, S., Genovesio, A. & Wise, S. Evaluating self-generated decisions in frontal pole cortex of monkeys. Nat Neurosci 13, 120–126 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2453

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