The ability to interact effectively within social groups is essential to primate and human behavior. Yet understanding the neural processes that underlie the interactive behavior of groups or by which neurons solve the basic problem of coding for multiple agents has remained a challenge. By tracking the interindividual dynamics of groups of three interacting rhesus macaques, we discover detailed representations of the groups’ behavior by neurons in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, reflecting not only the other agents’ identities but also their specific interactions, social context, actions, and outcomes. We show how these cells collectively represent the interaction between specific group members and their reciprocation, retaliation, and past behaviors. We also show how they influence the animals’ own upcoming decisions and their ability to form beneficial agent-specific interactions. Together, these findings reveal prefrontal neurons that code for the agency identity of others and a cellular mechanism that could support the interactive behavior of social groups.

中文翻译：

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灵长类相互作用群体前额叶皮层中的社会主体身份细胞

在社会群体中有效互动的能力对于灵长类动物和人类行为至关重要。然而，了解构成群体交互行为的神经过程或神经元解决多个代理编码的基本问题的神经过程仍然是一个挑战。通过跟踪三只相互作用的恒河猴群体的个体间动态，我们发现了背内侧前额叶皮层神经元对群体行为的详细表征，不仅反映了其他主体的身份，还反映了它们的特定互动、社会背景、行动和结果。我们展示了这些细胞如何共同代表特定群体成员之间的相互作用以及他们的互惠、报复和过去的行为。我们还展示了它们如何影响动物自己即将做出的决定以及它们形成有益的特定代理交互的能力。总之，这些发现揭示了编码他人代理身份的前额神经元和支持社会群体互动行为的细胞机制。