华东师大心理学院 周永迪教授

时间： 2015-03-20 12:30 - 14:30

地点： 王克桢楼1113

Studies have indicated that neurons in the dorsal prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) integrate information across modalities and maintain it throughout the delay period of working-memory (WM) tasks. However, the neural mechanisms of this crossmodal temporal integration in the DLPFC are still poorly understood. In the present study, to further elucidate the role of the DLPFC in crossmodal WM, we trained monkeys to perform visuo–haptic (VH) crossmodal and haptic–haptic (HH) unimodal WM tasks that required the animals to memorize a visual cue (in the VH task), or a haptic cue (in the HH task) for a haptic choice. The neuronal activity recorded in the DLPFC in the delay period of both tasks indicates that the early-delay differential activity probably is related to the encoding of sample information with different strengths depending on task modality, that the late-delay differential activity reflects the associated (modality-independent) action component of haptic choice in both tasks (that is, the anticipation of the behavioral choice and/or active recall and maintenance of sample information for subsequent action), and that the sustained whole-delay differential activity likely bridges and integrates the sensory and action components. In addition, the VH late-delay differential activity was significantly diminished when the haptic choice was not required. Taken together, the results indicate that DLPFC is capable of (i) holding the coded sample information (e.g., visual or tactile information) in the early-delay activity, (ii) retrieving the abstract information of the sample (whether the sample has been haptic or visual) and holding it in the late-delay activity, and (iii) preparing for behavioral choice acting on that abstract information.

2015-03-20

2015-03-20