Adaptive context-dependent behaviors necessitate the flexible selection of multiple behavioral tactics, i.e., internal protocols for selecting an action. Previous primate studies have shown that the posterior medial prefrontal cortex (pmPFC) contributes to the selection, retention, and use of tactics, but the manner in which this area employs selected tactics to convert sensory information into action and how that manner differs from downstream cortical motor areas have yet to be fully elucidated. To address this issue, the present study recorded neuronal activity in two monkeys as they performed a two-choice arm reaching task that required the selection of multiple tactics when converting spatial cue information into the direction of arm reaching. Neuronal populations in both pmPFC and presupplementary motor area (pre-SMA) represented tactics during their selection, maintenance in memory, and their use in determining an action. Additionally, they represented the monkeys’ action in the behavioral epoch in which the direction of reaching was determined. A striking contrast between the pmPFC and the pre-SMA was the representation of the spatial cue location in the former and its absence in the latter area. In individual neurons, neurons in pmPFC and pre-SMA had either single or mixed representation of tactics and action. Some of the pmPFC neurons additionally encoded cue location. Finally, neurons in the supplementary motor area mainly represented the action. Taken together, the present results indicate that, of these three areas, the pmPFC plays a cardinal role during the integration of behavioral tactics and visuospatial information when selecting an action.

中文翻译：

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灵长类动物内侧前额叶、前补充和补充运动区基于策略的感觉运动转变的神经元表征：一项比较研究

自适应上下文相关行为需要灵活选择多种行为策略，即选择动作的内部协议。先前的灵长类动物研究表明，后内侧前额叶皮层 (pmPFC) 有助于策略的选择、保留和使用，但该区域采用所选策略将感觉信息转化为行动的方式以及这种方式与下游皮质有何不同运动领域尚未完全阐明。为了解决这个问题，本研究记录了两只猴子在执行两项选择手臂伸展任务时的神经元活动，该任务需要在将空间提示信息转换为手臂伸展方向时选择多种策略。pmPFC 和前辅助运动区 (pre-SMA) 中的神经元群体在选择、记忆维持以及用于确定行动的过程中代表策略。此外，它们还代表了猴子在确定到达方向的行为时期的行为。pmPFC 和 pre-SMA 之间的显着对比是前者区域中空间线索位置的表示，而后者区域中空间线索位置的缺失。在单个神经元中，pmPFC 和 pre-SMA 中的神经元具有单一或混合的策略和行动表征。一些 pmPFC 神经元还编码提示位置。最后，辅助运动区的神经元主要代表动作。综上所述，目前的结果表明，在这三个领域中，前额叶皮质在选择行动时整合行为策略和视觉空间信息方面发挥着重要作用。