1
|
Yin L, Han F, Wang Q. A biophysical model for dopamine modulating working memory through reward system in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Cogn Neurodyn 2024; 18:1895-1911. [PMID: 39104680 PMCID: PMC11297891 DOI: 10.1007/s11571-023-09999-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2023] [Revised: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Dopamine modulates working memory in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and is crucial for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, the mechanism is unclear. Here we establish a biophysical model of the effect of dopamine (DA) in PFC to explain the mechanism of how high dopamine concentrations induce persistent neuronal activities with the network plunging into a deep, stable attractor state. The state develops a defect in working memory and tends to obsession and compulsion. Weakening the reuptake of dopamine acts on synaptic plasticity according to Hebbian learning rules and reward learning, which in turn affects the strength of neuronal synaptic connections, resulting in the tendency of compulsion and learned obsession. In addition, we elucidate the potential mechanisms of dopamine antagonists in OCD, indicating that dopaminergic drugs might be available for treatment, even if the abnormality is a consequence of glutamate hypermetabolism rather than dopamine. The theory highlights the significance of early intervention and behavioural therapies for obsessive-compulsive disorder. It potentially offers new approaches to dopaminergic pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy for OCD patients.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lining Yin
- Department of Dynamics and Control, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191 China
| | - Fang Han
- College of Information Science and Technology, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620 China
| | - Qingyun Wang
- Department of Dynamics and Control, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191 China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Malleret G, Salin P, Mazza S, Plancher G. Working memory forgetting: Bridging gaps between human and animal studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 163:105742. [PMID: 38830561 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2024] [Revised: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
The causes of forgetting in working memory (WM) remain a source of debate in cognitive psychology, partly because it has always been challenging to probe the complex neural mechanisms that govern rapid cognitive processes in humans. In this review, we argue that neural, and more precisely animal models, provide valuable tools for exploring the precise mechanisms of WM forgetting. First, we discuss theoretical perspectives concerning WM forgetting in humans. Then, we present neuronal correlates of WM in animals, starting from the initial evidence of delay activity observed in the prefrontal cortex to the later synaptic theory of WM. In the third part, specific theories of WM are discussed, including the notion that silent versus non-silent activity is more consistent with the processes of refreshing and decay proposed in human cognitive models. The review concludes with an exploration of the relationship between long-term memory and WM, revealing connections between these two forms of memory through the long-term synaptic hypothesis, which suggests that long-term storage of interference can potentially disrupt WM.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gaël Malleret
- Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unité Mixte de Recherche 5292, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U1028, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bron F-69500, France
| | - Paul Salin
- Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unité Mixte de Recherche 5292, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U1028, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bron F-69500, France
| | - Stéphanie Mazza
- Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unité Mixte de Recherche 5292, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U1028, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Bron F-69500, France
| | - Gaën Plancher
- Université Lumière Lyon 2, Laboratoire d'Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Bron, France; Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), France.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Courellis HS, Valiante TA, Mamelak AN, Adolphs R, Rutishauser U. Neural dynamics underlying minute-timescale persistent behavior in the human brain. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.16.603717. [PMID: 39071326 PMCID: PMC11275932 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.16.603717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
The ability to pursue long-term goals relies on a representations of task context that can both be maintained over long periods of time and switched flexibly when goals change. Little is known about the neural substrate for such minute-scale maintenance of task sets. Utilizing recordings in neurosurgical patients, we examined how groups of neurons in the human medial frontal cortex and hippocampus represent task contexts. When cued explicitly, task context was encoded in both brain areas and changed rapidly at task boundaries. Hippocampus exhibited a temporally dynamic code with fast decorrelation over time, preventing cross-temporal generalization. Medial frontal cortex exhibited a static code that decorrelated slowly, allowing generalization across minutes of time. When task context needed to be inferred as a latent variable, hippocampus encoded task context with a static code. These findings reveal two possible regimes for encoding minute-scale task-context representations that were engaged differently based on task demands.
Collapse
|
4
|
Upchurch CM, Knowlton CJ, Chamberland S, Canavier CC. Persistent Interruption in Parvalbumin-Positive Inhibitory Interneurons: Biophysical and Mathematical Mechanisms. eNeuro 2024; 11:ENEURO.0190-24.2024. [PMID: 38886063 PMCID: PMC11236577 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0190-24.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2024] [Revised: 06/05/2024] [Accepted: 06/11/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Persistent activity in excitatory pyramidal cells (PYRs) is a putative mechanism for maintaining memory traces during working memory. We have recently demonstrated persistent interruption of firing in fast-spiking parvalbumin-expressing interneurons (PV-INs), a phenomenon that could serve as a substrate for persistent activity in PYRs through disinhibition lasting hundreds of milliseconds. Here, we find that hippocampal CA1 PV-INs exhibit type 2 excitability, like striatal and neocortical PV-INs. Modeling and mathematical analysis showed that the slowly inactivating potassium current KV1 contributes to type 2 excitability, enables the multiple firing regimes observed experimentally in PV-INs, and provides a mechanism for robust persistent interruption of firing. Using a fast/slow separation of times scales approach with the KV1 inactivation variable as a bifurcation parameter shows that the initial inhibitory stimulus stops repetitive firing by moving the membrane potential trajectory onto a coexisting stable fixed point corresponding to a nonspiking quiescent state. As KV1 inactivation decays, the trajectory follows the branch of stable fixed points until it crosses a subcritical Hopf bifurcation (HB) and then spirals out into repetitive firing. In a model describing entorhinal cortical PV-INs without KV1, interruption of firing could be achieved by taking advantage of the bistability inherent in type 2 excitability based on a subcritical HB, but the interruption was not robust to noise. Persistent interruption of firing is therefore broadly applicable to PV-INs in different brain regions but is only made robust to noise in the presence of a slow variable, KV1 inactivation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carol M Upchurch
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
| | - Christopher J Knowlton
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
| | - Simon Chamberland
- Neuroscience Institute and Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York 10016
| | - Carmen C Canavier
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Monov G, Stein H, Klock L, Gallinat J, Kühn S, Lincoln T, Krkovic K, Murphy PR, Donner TH. Linking Cognitive Integrity to Working Memory Dynamics in the Aging Human Brain. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e1883232024. [PMID: 38760163 PMCID: PMC11211717 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1883-23.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2023] [Revised: 04/13/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Aging is accompanied by a decline of working memory, an important cognitive capacity that involves stimulus-selective neural activity that persists after stimulus presentation. Here, we unraveled working memory dynamics in older human adults (male and female) including those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using a combination of behavioral modeling, neuropsychological assessment, and MEG recordings of brain activity. Younger adults (male and female) were studied with behavioral modeling only. Participants performed a visuospatial delayed match-to-sample task under systematic manipulation of the delay and distance between sample and test stimuli. Their behavior (match/nonmatch decisions) was fit with a computational model permitting the dissociation of noise in the internal operations underlying the working memory performance from a strategic decision threshold. Task accuracy decreased with delay duration and sample/test proximity. When sample/test distances were small, older adults committed more false alarms than younger adults. The computational model explained the participants' behavior well. The model parameters reflecting internal noise (not decision threshold) correlated with the precision of stimulus-selective cortical activity measured with MEG during the delay interval. The model uncovered an increase specifically in working memory noise in older compared with younger participants. Furthermore, in the MCI group, but not in the older healthy controls, internal noise correlated with the participants' clinically assessed cognitive integrity. Our results are consistent with the idea that the stability of working memory contents deteriorates in aging, in a manner that is specifically linked to the overall cognitive integrity of individuals diagnosed with MCI.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gina Monov
- Section of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurophysiology & Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg 20246, Germany
| | - Henrik Stein
- Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg 20246, Germany
| | - Leonie Klock
- Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg 20246, Germany
| | - Juergen Gallinat
- Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg 20246, Germany
| | - Simone Kühn
- Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg 20246, Germany
| | - Tania Lincoln
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg 20146, Germany
| | - Katarina Krkovic
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg 20146, Germany
| | - Peter R Murphy
- Section of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurophysiology & Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg 20246, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Maynooth University, Co. Kildare, Ireland
| | - Tobias H Donner
- Section of Computational Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurophysiology & Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg 20246, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin 10115, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Busch A, Roussy M, Luna R, Leavitt ML, Mofrad MH, Gulli RA, Corrigan B, Mináč J, Sachs AJ, Palaniyappan L, Muller L, Martinez-Trujillo JC. Neuronal activation sequences in lateral prefrontal cortex encode visuospatial working memory during virtual navigation. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4471. [PMID: 38796480 PMCID: PMC11127969 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48664-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2023] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Working memory (WM) is the ability to maintain and manipulate information 'in mind'. The neural codes underlying WM have been a matter of debate. We simultaneously recorded the activity of hundreds of neurons in the lateral prefrontal cortex of male macaque monkeys during a visuospatial WM task that required navigation in a virtual 3D environment. Here, we demonstrate distinct neuronal activation sequences (NASs) that encode remembered target locations in the virtual environment. This NAS code outperformed the persistent firing code for remembered locations during the virtual reality task, but not during a classical WM task using stationary stimuli and constraining eye movements. Finally, blocking NMDA receptors using low doses of ketamine deteriorated the NAS code and behavioral performance selectively during the WM task. These results reveal the versatility and adaptability of neural codes supporting working memory function in the primate lateral prefrontal cortex.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Busch
- Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Mathematics, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Megan Roussy
- Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Rogelio Luna
- Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | | | - Maryam H Mofrad
- Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Mathematics, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Roberto A Gulli
- Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Benjamin Corrigan
- Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Ján Mináč
- Department of Mathematics, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Adam J Sachs
- The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Lena Palaniyappan
- Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada
| | - Lyle Muller
- Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
- Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
- Department of Mathematics, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
| | - Julio C Martinez-Trujillo
- Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
- Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
- Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Whyte CJ, Redinbaugh MJ, Shine JM, Saalmann YB. Thalamic contributions to the state and contents of consciousness. Neuron 2024; 112:1611-1625. [PMID: 38754373 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.04.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2024] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
Consciousness can be conceptualized as varying along at least two dimensions: the global state of consciousness and the content of conscious experience. Here, we highlight the cellular and systems-level contributions of the thalamus to conscious state and then argue for thalamic contributions to conscious content, including the integrated, segregated, and continuous nature of our experience. We underscore vital, yet distinct roles for core- and matrix-type thalamic neurons. Through reciprocal interactions with deep-layer cortical neurons, matrix neurons support wakefulness and determine perceptual thresholds, whereas the cortical interactions of core neurons maintain content and enable perceptual constancy. We further propose that conscious integration, segregation, and continuity depend on the convergent nature of corticothalamic projections enabling dimensionality reduction, a thalamic reticular nucleus-mediated divisive normalization-like process, and sustained coherent activity in thalamocortical loops, respectively. Overall, we conclude that the thalamus plays a central topological role in brain structures controlling conscious experience.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J Whyte
- Centre for Complex Systems, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | | | - James M Shine
- Centre for Complex Systems, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Yuri B Saalmann
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, Madison, WI, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Daume J, Kamiński J, Schjetnan AGP, Salimpour Y, Khan U, Kyzar M, Reed CM, Anderson WS, Valiante TA, Mamelak AN, Rutishauser U. Control of working memory by phase-amplitude coupling of human hippocampal neurons. Nature 2024; 629:393-401. [PMID: 38632400 PMCID: PMC11078732 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07309-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
Retaining information in working memory is a demanding process that relies on cognitive control to protect memoranda-specific persistent activity from interference1,2. However, how cognitive control regulates working memory storage is unclear. Here we show that interactions of frontal control and hippocampal persistent activity are coordinated by theta-gamma phase-amplitude coupling (TG-PAC). We recorded single neurons in the human medial temporal and frontal lobe while patients maintained multiple items in their working memory. In the hippocampus, TG-PAC was indicative of working memory load and quality. We identified cells that selectively spiked during nonlinear interactions of theta phase and gamma amplitude. The spike timing of these PAC neurons was coordinated with frontal theta activity when cognitive control demand was high. By introducing noise correlations with persistently active neurons in the hippocampus, PAC neurons shaped the geometry of the population code. This led to higher-fidelity representations of working memory content that were associated with improved behaviour. Our results support a multicomponent architecture of working memory1,2, with frontal control managing maintenance of working memory content in storage-related areas3-5. Within this framework, hippocampal TG-PAC integrates cognitive control and working memory storage across brain areas, thereby suggesting a potential mechanism for top-down control over sensory-driven processes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Daume
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Neurology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Center for Neural Science and Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Jan Kamiński
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Center of Excellence for Neural Plasticity and Brain Disorders: BRAINCITY, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Andrea G P Schjetnan
- Krembil Research Institute and Division of Neurosurgery, University Health Network (UHN), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Yousef Salimpour
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Umais Khan
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Michael Kyzar
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Chrystal M Reed
- Department of Neurology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - William S Anderson
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Taufik A Valiante
- Krembil Research Institute and Division of Neurosurgery, University Health Network (UHN), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Adam N Mamelak
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ueli Rutishauser
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Neurology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Center for Neural Science and Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Upchurch CM, Knowlton CJ, Chamberland S, Canavier CC. Persistent Interruption in Parvalbumin Positive Inhibitory Interneurons: Biophysical and Mathematical Mechanisms. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.04.583352. [PMID: 38496528 PMCID: PMC10942299 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.04.583352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
Persistent activity in principal cells is a putative mechanism for maintaining memory traces during working memory. We recently demonstrated persistent interruption of firing in fast-spiking parvalbumin-expressing interneurons (PV-INs), a phenomenon which could serve as a substrate for persistent activity in principal cells through disinhibition lasting hundreds of milliseconds. Here, we find that hippocampal CA1 PV-INs exhibit type 2 excitability, like striatal and neocortical PV-INs. Modelling and mathematical analysis showed that the slowly inactivating potassium current Kv1 contributes to type 2 excitability, enables the multiple firing regimes observed experimentally in PV-INs, and provides a mechanism for robust persistent interruption of firing. Using a fast/slow separation of times scales approach with the Kv1 inactivation variable as a bifurcation parameter shows that the initial inhibitory stimulus stops repetitive firing by moving the membrane potential trajectory onto a co-existing stable fixed point corresponding to a non-spiking quiescent state. As Kv1 inactivation decays, the trajectory follows the branch of stable fixed points until it crosses a subcritical Hopf bifurcation then spirals out into repetitive firing. In a model describing entorhinal cortical PV-INs without Kv1, interruption of firing could be achieved by taking advantage of the bistability inherent in type 2 excitability based on a subcritical Hopf bifurcation, but the interruption was not robust to noise. Persistent interruption of firing is therefore broadly applicable to PV-INs in different brain regions but is only made robust to noise in the presence of a slow variable.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carol M Upchurch
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112
| | - Christopher J Knowlton
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112
| | - Simon Chamberland
- NYU Neuroscience Institute and Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Carmen C Canavier
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Linde-Domingo J, Spitzer B. Geometry of visuospatial working memory information in miniature gaze patterns. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:336-348. [PMID: 38110511 PMCID: PMC10896725 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01737-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
Stimulus-dependent eye movements have been recognized as a potential confound in decoding visual working memory information from neural signals. Here we combined eye-tracking with representational geometry analyses to uncover the information in miniature gaze patterns while participants (n = 41) were cued to maintain visual object orientations. Although participants were discouraged from breaking fixation by means of real-time feedback, small gaze shifts (<1°) robustly encoded the to-be-maintained stimulus orientation, with evidence for encoding two sequentially presented orientations at the same time. The orientation encoding on stimulus presentation was object-specific, but it changed to a more object-independent format during cued maintenance, particularly when attention had been temporarily withdrawn from the memorandum. Finally, categorical reporting biases increased after unattended storage, with indications of biased gaze geometries already emerging during the maintenance periods before behavioural reporting. These findings disclose a wealth of information in gaze patterns during visuospatial working memory and indicate systematic changes in representational format when memory contents have been unattended.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Juan Linde-Domingo
- Research Group Adaptive Memory and Decision Making, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
- Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
- Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
| | - Bernhard Spitzer
- Research Group Adaptive Memory and Decision Making, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
- Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Yu X, Li J, Zhu H, Tian X, Lau E. Electrophysiological hallmarks for event relations and event roles in working memory. Front Neurosci 2024; 17:1282869. [PMID: 38328555 PMCID: PMC10847304 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1282869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/09/2024] Open
Abstract
The ability to maintain events (i.e., interactions between/among objects) in working memory is crucial for our everyday cognition, yet the format of this representation is poorly understood. The current ERP study was designed to answer two questions: How is maintaining events (e.g., the tiger hit the lion) neurally different from maintaining item coordinations (e.g., the tiger and the lion)? That is, how is the event relation (present in events but not coordinations) represented? And how is the agent, or initiator of the event encoded differently from the patient, or receiver of the event during maintenance? We used a novel picture-sentence match-across-delay approach in which the working memory representation was "pinged" during the delay, replicated across two ERP experiments with Chinese and English materials. We found that maintenance of events elicited a long-lasting late sustained difference in posterior-occipital electrodes relative to non-events. This effect resembled the negative slow wave reported in previous studies of working memory, suggesting that the maintenance of events in working memory may impose a higher cost compared to coordinations. Although we did not observe significant ERP differences associated with pinging the agent vs. the patient during the delay, we did find that the ping appeared to dampen the ongoing sustained difference, suggesting a shift from sustained activity to activity silent mechanisms. These results suggest a new method by which ERPs can be used to elucidate the format of neural representation for events in working memory.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xinchi Yu
- Program of Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
- Department of Linguistics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
| | - Jialu Li
- Division of Arts and Sciences, New York University Shanghai, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (Ministry of Education), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
- NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science at NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, China
| | - Hao Zhu
- Division of Arts and Sciences, New York University Shanghai, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (Ministry of Education), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
- NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science at NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, China
| | - Xing Tian
- Division of Arts and Sciences, New York University Shanghai, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (Ministry of Education), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
- NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science at NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, China
| | - Ellen Lau
- Program of Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
- Department of Linguistics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Ding X, Froudist-Walsh S, Jaramillo J, Jiang J, Wang XJ. Cell type-specific connectome predicts distributed working memory activity in the mouse brain. eLife 2024; 13:e85442. [PMID: 38174734 PMCID: PMC10807864 DOI: 10.7554/elife.85442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Recent advances in connectomics and neurophysiology make it possible to probe whole-brain mechanisms of cognition and behavior. We developed a large-scale model of the multiregional mouse brain for a cardinal cognitive function called working memory, the brain's ability to internally hold and process information without sensory input. The model is built on mesoscopic connectome data for interareal cortical connections and endowed with a macroscopic gradient of measured parvalbumin-expressing interneuron density. We found that working memory coding is distributed yet exhibits modularity; the spatial pattern of mnemonic representation is determined by long-range cell type-specific targeting and density of cell classes. Cell type-specific graph measures predict the activity patterns and a core subnetwork for memory maintenance. The model shows numerous attractor states, which are self-sustained internal states (each engaging a distinct subset of areas). This work provides a framework to interpret large-scale recordings of brain activity during cognition, while highlighting the need for cell type-specific connectomics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xingyu Ding
- Center for Neural Science, New York UniversityNew YorkUnited States
| | - Sean Froudist-Walsh
- Center for Neural Science, New York UniversityNew YorkUnited States
- Bristol Computational Neuroscience Unit, School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology, University of BristolBristolUnited Kingdom
| | - Jorge Jaramillo
- Center for Neural Science, New York UniversityNew YorkUnited States
- Campus Institute for Dynamics of Biological Networks, University of GöttingenGöttingenGermany
| | - Junjie Jiang
- Center for Neural Science, New York UniversityNew YorkUnited States
- The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education,Institute of Health and Rehabilitation Science,School of Life Science and Technology, Research Center for Brain-inspired Intelligence, Xi’an Jiaotong UniversityXi'anChina
| | - Xiao-Jing Wang
- Center for Neural Science, New York UniversityNew YorkUnited States
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Dalléry R, Saleh Y, Manohar S, Husain M. Persistence of effort in apathy. Rev Neurol (Paris) 2023; 179:1047-1060. [PMID: 37451928 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurol.2023.03.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2021] [Revised: 02/19/2023] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
The syndrome of apathy has generated increasing interest in recent years as systematic evaluations have revealed its high prevalence and strong negative impact on quality of life across a wide range of neurological and psychiatric conditions. However, although several theoretical models have been proposed to account for various aspects of the condition, understanding of this syndrome is still incomplete. One influential model has proposed that apathy might be described as a quantitative reduction of goal-directed behaviour in comparison to an individual's prior level of functioning. Persistence of activity defined as the capacity to continue with a task - sometimes in the face of setbacks, high levels of difficulty or fatigue - is a crucial but understudied aspect of goal-directed behaviour. Surprisingly, it has not been investigated yet in the context of apathy. Here, we provide an overview of theoretical and experimental aspects of persistence in effort that might assist to develop methods for the investigation of persistence in human behaviour, particularly within the pathologic context of apathy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- R Dalléry
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Université Paris Sorbonne, Paris, France; Service de neurologie, centre de référence maladie de Huntington, hôpital Henri-Mondor-Albert-Chenevier, AP-HP, 94010 Créteil, France.
| | - Y Saleh
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Nuffield Department Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - S Manohar
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - M Husain
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Nuffield Department Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Han S, Zhou H, Tian Y, Ku Y. Early top-down control of internal selection induced by retrospective cues in visual working memory: advantage of peripheral over central cues. Prog Neurobiol 2023; 230:102521. [PMID: 37673370 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2023.102521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Revised: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
Attention can be deployed among external sensory stimuli or internal working memory (WM) representations, and recent primate studies have revealed that these external and internal selections share a common neural basis in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, it remains to be elucidated how PFC implements these selections, especially in humans. The present study aimed to further investigate whether PFC responded differentially to the peripheral and central retrospective cues (retro-cues) that induced attention selection among WM representations. To achieve this, we combined magnetoencephalography (MEG, Experiment 1) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS, Experiment 2) with an orientation-recall paradigm. Experiment 1 found that a peripheral retro-cue with 100% reliability had a greater benefit on WM performance than a central retro-cue, while this advantage of peripheral over central cues vanished when the cue reliability dropped to 50% (non-informative). MEG source analysis indicated that the 100% peripheral retro-cue elicited earlier (∼125 ms) PFC responses than the central retro-cue (∼275 ms). Meanwhile, Granger causality analysis showed that PFC had earlier (0-200 ms) top-down signals projecting to the superior parietal lobule (SPL) and the lateral occipital cortex (LOC) after the onset of peripheral retro-cues, while these top-down signals appeared later (300-500 ms) after the onset of central retro-cues. Importantly, PFC activity within this period of 300-500 ms correlated with the peripheral advantage in behavior. Moreover, Experiment 2 applied TMS at different time points to test the causal influence of brain activity on behavior and found that stimulating PFC at 100 ms abolished the behavioral benefit of the peripheral retro-cue, as well as its advantage over the central retro-cue. Taken together, our results suggested that the advantage of peripheral over central retro-cues in the mnemonic domain is realized through faster top-down control from PFC, which challenged traditional opinions that the top-down control of attention on WM required at least 300 ms to appear. The present study highlighted that in addition to the causal role of PFC in attention selection of WM representations, timing was critical as well and faster was better.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sizhu Han
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Center for Brain and Mental Well-being, Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, China; School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | | | - Yonghong Tian
- Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, China; School of Computer Science, School of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yixuan Ku
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Center for Brain and Mental Well-being, Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, China.
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Li S, Rosen MC, Chang S, David S, Freedman DJ. Alterations of neural activity in the prefrontal cortex associated with deficits in working memory performance. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1213435. [PMID: 37915531 PMCID: PMC10616307 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1213435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Working memory (WM), a core cognitive function, enables the temporary holding and manipulation of information in mind to support ongoing behavior. Neurophysiological recordings conducted in nonhuman primates have revealed neural correlates of this process in a network of higher-order cortical regions, particularly the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Here, we review the circuit mechanisms and functional importance of WM-related activity in these areas. Recent neurophysiological data indicates that the absence of these neural correlates at different stages of WM is accompanied by distinct behavioral deficits, which are characteristic of various disease states/normal aging and which we review here. Finally, we discuss emerging evidence of electrical stimulation ameliorating these WM deficits in both humans and non-human primates. These results are important for a basic understanding of the neural mechanisms supporting WM, as well as for translational efforts to developing therapies capable of enhancing healthy WM ability or restoring WM from dysfunction.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sihai Li
- Department of Neurobiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Matthew C. Rosen
- Department of Neurobiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Suha Chang
- Department of Neurobiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Samuel David
- Department of Neurobiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - David J. Freedman
- Department of Neurobiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
- Neuroscience Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Piwek EP, Stokes MG, Summerfield C. A recurrent neural network model of prefrontal brain activity during a working memory task. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1011555. [PMID: 37851670 PMCID: PMC10615291 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Revised: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023] Open
Abstract
When multiple items are held in short-term memory, cues that retrospectively prioritise one item over another (retro-cues) can facilitate subsequent recall. However, the neural and computational underpinnings of this effect are poorly understood. One recent study recorded neural signals in the macaque lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) during a retro-cueing task, contrasting delay-period activity before (pre-cue) and after (post-cue) retrocue onset. They reported that in the pre-cue delay, the individual stimuli were maintained in independent subspaces of neural population activity, whereas in the post-cue delay, the prioritised items were rotated into a common subspace, potentially allowing a common readout mechanism. To understand how such representational transitions can be learnt through error minimisation, we trained recurrent neural networks (RNNs) with supervision to perform an equivalent cued-recall task. RNNs were presented with two inputs denoting conjunctive colour-location stimuli, followed by a pre-cue memory delay, a location retrocue, and a post-cue delay. We found that the orthogonal-to-parallel geometry transformation observed in the macaque LPFC emerged naturally in RNNs trained to perform the task. Interestingly, the parallel geometry only developed when the cued information was required to be maintained in short-term memory for several cycles before readout, suggesting that it might confer robustness during maintenance. We extend these findings by analysing the learning dynamics and connectivity patterns of the RNNs, as well as the behaviour of models trained with probabilistic cues, allowing us to make predictions for future studies. Overall, our findings are consistent with recent theoretical accounts which propose that retrocues transform the prioritised memory items into a prospective, action-oriented format.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emilia P. Piwek
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Mark G. Stokes
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | |
Collapse
|
17
|
Li HH, Curtis CE. Neural population dynamics of human working memory. Curr Biol 2023; 33:3775-3784.e4. [PMID: 37595590 PMCID: PMC10528783 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.07.067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/20/2023]
Abstract
The activity of neurons in macaque prefrontal cortex (PFC) persists during working memory (WM) delays, providing a mechanism for memory.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 Although theory,11,12 including formal network models,13,14 assumes that WM codes are stable over time, PFC neurons exhibit dynamics inconsistent with these assumptions.15,16,17,18,19 Recently, multivariate reanalyses revealed the coexistence of both stable and dynamic WM codes in macaque PFC.20,21,22,23 Human EEG studies also suggest that WM might contain dynamics.24,25 Nonetheless, how WM dynamics vary across the cortical hierarchy and which factors drive dynamics remain unknown. To elucidate WM dynamics in humans, we decoded WM content from fMRI responses across multiple cortical visual field maps.26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48 We found coexisting stable and dynamic neural representations of WM during a memory-guided saccade task. Geometric analyses of neural subspaces revealed that early visual cortex exhibited stronger dynamics than high-level visual and frontoparietal cortex. Leveraging models of population receptive fields, we visualized and made the neural dynamics interpretable. We found that during WM delays, V1 population initially encoded a narrowly tuned bump of activation centered on the peripheral memory target. Remarkably, this bump then spread inward toward foveal locations, forming a vector along the trajectory of the forthcoming memory-guided saccade. In other words, the neural code transformed into an abstraction of the stimulus more proximal to memory-guided behavior. Therefore, theories of WM must consider both sensory features and their task-relevant abstractions because changes in the format of memoranda naturally drive neural dynamics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hsin-Hung Li
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Clayton E Curtis
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Ye L, Feng J, Li C. Controlling brain dynamics: Landscape and transition path for working memory. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1011446. [PMID: 37669311 PMCID: PMC10503743 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Revised: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the underlying dynamical mechanisms of the brain and controlling it is a crucial issue in brain science. The energy landscape and transition path approach provides a possible route to address these challenges. Here, taking working memory as an example, we quantified its landscape based on a large-scale macaque model. The working memory function is governed by the change of landscape and brain-wide state switching in response to the task demands. The kinetic transition path reveals that information flow follows the direction of hierarchical structure. Importantly, we propose a landscape control approach to manipulate brain state transition by modulating external stimulation or inter-areal connectivity, demonstrating the crucial roles of associative areas, especially prefrontal and parietal cortical areas in working memory performance. Our findings provide new insights into the dynamical mechanism of cognitive function, and the landscape control approach helps to develop therapeutic strategies for brain disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Leijun Ye
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Center for Mathematical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jianfeng Feng
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Center for Mathematical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
| | - Chunhe Li
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Center for Mathematical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- School of Mathematical Sciences and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Wang XJ, Jiang J, Pereira-Obilinovic U. Bifurcation in space: Emergence of function modularity in the neocortex. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.06.04.543639. [PMID: 37333347 PMCID: PMC10274618 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.04.543639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/20/2023]
Abstract
How does functional modularity emerge in a multiregional cortex made with repeats of a canonical local circuit architecture? We investigated this question by focusing on neural coding of working memory, a core cognitive function. Here we report a mechanism dubbed "bifurcation in space", and show that its salient signature is spatially localized "critical slowing down" leading to an inverted V-shaped profile of neuronal time constants along the cortical hierarchy during working memory. The phenomenon is confirmed in connectome-based large-scale models of mouse and monkey cortices, offering an experimentally testable prediction to assess whether working memory representation is modular. Many bifurcations in space could explain the emergence of different activity patterns potentially deployed for distinct cognitive functions, This work demonstrates that a distributed mental representation is compatible with functional specificity as a consequence of macroscopic gradients of neurobiological properties across the cortex, suggesting a general principle for understanding brain's modular organization.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Jing Wang
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York 10003, USA
| | - Junjie Jiang
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York 10003, USA
- Present address: The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, Institute of Health and Rehabilitation Science, School of Life Science and Technology, Research Center for Brain-inspired Intelligence, Xi’an Jiaotong University, No.28, West Xianning Road, Xi’an, 710049, Shaanxi, P. R. China
| | | |
Collapse
|
20
|
Langdon C, Genkin M, Engel TA. A unifying perspective on neural manifolds and circuits for cognition. Nat Rev Neurosci 2023; 24:363-377. [PMID: 37055616 PMCID: PMC11058347 DOI: 10.1038/s41583-023-00693-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 04/15/2023]
Abstract
Two different perspectives have informed efforts to explain the link between the brain and behaviour. One approach seeks to identify neural circuit elements that carry out specific functions, emphasizing connectivity between neurons as a substrate for neural computations. Another approach centres on neural manifolds - low-dimensional representations of behavioural signals in neural population activity - and suggests that neural computations are realized by emergent dynamics. Although manifolds reveal an interpretable structure in heterogeneous neuronal activity, finding the corresponding structure in connectivity remains a challenge. We highlight examples in which establishing the correspondence between low-dimensional activity and connectivity has been possible, unifying the neural manifold and circuit perspectives. This relationship is conspicuous in systems in which the geometry of neural responses mirrors their spatial layout in the brain, such as the fly navigational system. Furthermore, we describe evidence that, in systems in which neural responses are heterogeneous, the circuit comprises interactions between activity patterns on the manifold via low-rank connectivity. We suggest that unifying the manifold and circuit approaches is important if we are to be able to causally test theories about the neural computations that underlie behaviour.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Langdon
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
| | - Mikhail Genkin
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
| | - Tatiana A Engel
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Glavis-Bloom C, Vanderlip CR, Weiser Novak S, Kuwajima M, Kirk L, Harris KM, Manor U, Reynolds JH. Violation of the ultrastructural size principle in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex underlies working memory impairment in the aged common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus). Front Aging Neurosci 2023; 15:1146245. [PMID: 37122384 PMCID: PMC10132463 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2023.1146245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Morphology and function of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), and corresponding working memory performance, are affected early in the aging process, but nearly half of aged individuals are spared of working memory deficits. Translationally relevant model systems are critical for determining the neurobiological drivers of this variability. The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is advantageous as a model for these investigations because, as a non-human primate, marmosets have a clearly defined dlPFC that enables measurement of prefrontal-dependent cognitive functions, and their short (∼10 year) lifespan facilitates longitudinal studies of aging. Previously, we characterized working memory capacity in a cohort of marmosets that collectively covered the lifespan, and found age-related working memory impairment. We also found a remarkable degree of heterogeneity in performance, similar to that found in humans. Here, we tested the hypothesis that changes to synaptic ultrastructure that affect synaptic efficacy stratify marmosets that age with cognitive impairment from those that age without cognitive impairment. We utilized electron microscopy to visualize synapses in the marmoset dlPFC and measured the sizes of boutons, presynaptic mitochondria, and synapses. We found that coordinated scaling of the sizes of synapses and mitochondria with their associated boutons is essential for intact working memory performance in aged marmosets. Further, lack of synaptic scaling, due to a remarkable failure of synaptic mitochondria to scale with presynaptic boutons, selectively underlies age-related working memory impairment. We posit that this decoupling results in mismatched energy supply and demand, leading to impaired synaptic transmission. We also found that aged marmosets have fewer synapses in dlPFC than young, though the severity of synapse loss did not predict whether aging occurred with or without cognitive impairment. This work identifies a novel mechanism of synapse dysfunction that stratifies marmosets that age with cognitive impairment from those that age without cognitive impairment. The process by which synaptic scaling is regulated is yet unknown and warrants future investigation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Courtney Glavis-Bloom
- Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Systems Neurobiology Laboratory, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Casey R. Vanderlip
- Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Systems Neurobiology Laboratory, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Sammy Weiser Novak
- Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Waitt Advanced Biophotonics Center, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Masaaki Kuwajima
- Department of Neuroscience, Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States
| | - Lyndsey Kirk
- Department of Neuroscience, Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States
| | - Kristen M. Harris
- Department of Neuroscience, Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States
| | - Uri Manor
- Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Waitt Advanced Biophotonics Center, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - John H. Reynolds
- Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Systems Neurobiology Laboratory, La Jolla, CA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Daume J, Kaminski J, Schjetnan AGP, Salimpour Y, Khan U, Reed C, Anderson W, Valiante TA, Mamelak AN, Rutishauser U. Control of working memory maintenance by theta-gamma phase amplitude coupling of human hippocampal neurons. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.04.05.535772. [PMID: 37066145 PMCID: PMC10104113 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.05.535772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/18/2023]
Abstract
Retaining information in working memory (WM) is a demanding process that relies on cognitive control to protect memoranda-specific persistent activity from interference. How cognitive control regulates WM storage, however, remains unknown. We hypothesized that interactions of frontal control and hippocampal persistent activity are coordinated by theta-gamma phase amplitude coupling (TG-PAC). We recorded single neurons in the human medial temporal and frontal lobe while patients maintained multiple items in WM. In the hippocampus, TG-PAC was indicative of WM load and quality. We identified cells that selectively spiked during nonlinear interactions of theta phase and gamma amplitude. These PAC neurons were more strongly coordinated with frontal theta activity when cognitive control demand was high, and they introduced information-enhancing and behaviorally relevant noise correlations with persistently active neurons in the hippocampus. We show that TG-PAC integrates cognitive control and WM storage to improve the fidelity of WM representations and facilitate behavior.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Daume
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Neurology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Center for Neural Science and Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jan Kaminski
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Andrea G P Schjetnan
- Krembil Research Institute and Division of Neurosurgery, University Health Network (UHN), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Yousef Salimpour
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Umais Khan
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Chrystal Reed
- Department of Neurology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - William Anderson
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Taufik A Valiante
- Krembil Research Institute and Division of Neurosurgery, University Health Network (UHN), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Adam N Mamelak
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ueli Rutishauser
- Department of Neurosurgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Neurology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Center for Neural Science and Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Wong RK, Selvanayagam J, Johnston KD, Everling S. Delay-related activity in marmoset prefrontal cortex. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:3523-3537. [PMID: 35945687 PMCID: PMC10068290 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2022] [Revised: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Persistent delay-period activity in prefrontal cortex (PFC) has long been regarded as a neural signature of working memory (WM). Electrophysiological investigations in macaque PFC have provided much insight into WM mechanisms; however, a barrier to understanding is the fact that a portion of PFC lies buried within the principal sulcus in this species and is inaccessible for laminar electrophysiology or optical imaging. The relatively lissencephalic cortex of the New World common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) circumvents such limitations. It remains unknown, however, whether marmoset PFC neurons exhibit persistent activity. Here, we addressed this gap by conducting wireless electrophysiological recordings in PFC of marmosets performing a delayed-match-to-location task on a home cage-based touchscreen system. As in macaques, marmoset PFC neurons exhibited sample-, delay-, and response-related activity that was directionally tuned and linked to correct task performance. Models constructed from population activity consistently and accurately predicted stimulus location throughout the delay period, supporting a framework of delay activity in which mnemonic representations are relatively stable in time. Taken together, our findings support the existence of common neural mechanisms underlying WM performance in PFC of macaques and marmosets and thus validate the marmoset as a suitable model animal for investigating the microcircuitry underlying WM.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Raymond K Wong
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
- Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
| | - Janahan Selvanayagam
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
- Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
| | - Kevin D Johnston
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
- Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
| | - Stefan Everling
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
- Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Abstract
In this reflective piece on visual working memory, I depart from the laboriously honed skills of writing a review. Instead of integrating approaches, synthesizing evidence, and building a cohesive perspective, I scratch my head and share niggles and puzzlements. I expose where my scholarship and understanding are stumped by findings and standard views in the literature.
Collapse
|
25
|
Abstract
The dorsal premotor cortex (DPC) has classically been associated with a role in preparing and executing the physical motor variables during cognitive tasks. While recent work has provided nuanced insights into this role, here we propose that DPC also participates more actively in decision-making. We recorded neuronal activity in DPC while two trained monkeys performed a vibrotactile categorization task, utilizing two partially overlapping ranges of stimulus values that varied on two physical attributes: vibrotactile frequency and amplitude. We observed a broad heterogeneity across DPC neurons, the majority of which maintained the same response patterns across attributes and ranges, coding in the same periods, mixing temporal and categorical dynamics. The predominant categorical signal was maintained throughout the delay, movement periods and notably during the intertrial period. Putting the entire population's data through two dimensionality reduction techniques, we found strong temporal and categorical representations without remnants of the stimuli's physical parameters. Furthermore, projecting the activity of one population over the population axes of the other yielded identical categorical and temporal responses. Finally, we sought to identify functional subpopulations based on the combined activity of all stimuli, neurons, and time points; however, we found that single-unit responses mixed temporal and categorical dynamics and couldn't be clustered. All these point to DPC playing a more decision-related role than previously anticipated.
Collapse
|
26
|
Abstract
While working memory (WM) allows us to store past information, its function is to guide future behavior. Given this role, the tight link between how WMs are maintained and how they are read out to be transformed into context-appropriate actions remains relatively unexplored. Beyond helping us understand memory-guided behavior, focusing on WM readout may also help us better understand the neural basis of memory maintenance.
Collapse
|
27
|
Hahn LA, Balakhonov D, Lundqvist M, Nieder A, Rose J. Oscillations without cortex: Working memory modulates brainwaves in the endbrain of crows. Prog Neurobiol 2022; 219:102372. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2022.102372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
|
28
|
Wang XJ. Theory of the Multiregional Neocortex: Large-Scale Neural Dynamics and Distributed Cognition. Annu Rev Neurosci 2022; 45:533-560. [PMID: 35803587 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-110920-035434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
The neocortex is a complex neurobiological system with many interacting regions. How these regions work together to subserve flexible behavior and cognition has become increasingly amenable to rigorous research. Here, I review recent experimental and theoretical work on the modus operandi of a multiregional cortex. These studies revealed several general principles for the neocortical interareal connectivity, low-dimensional macroscopic gradients of biological properties across cortical areas, and a hierarchy of timescales for information processing. Theoretical work suggests testable predictions regarding differential excitation and inhibition along feedforward and feedback pathways in the cortical hierarchy. Furthermore, modeling of distributed working memory and simple decision-making has given rise to a novel mathematical concept, dubbed bifurcation in space, that potentially explains how different cortical areas, with a canonical circuit organization but gradients of biological heterogeneities, are able to subserve their respective (e.g., sensory coding versus executive control) functions in a modularly organized brain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Jing Wang
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA;
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Mejías JF, Wang XJ. Mechanisms of distributed working memory in a large-scale network of macaque neocortex. eLife 2022; 11:e72136. [PMID: 35200137 PMCID: PMC8871396 DOI: 10.7554/elife.72136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Neural activity underlying working memory is not a local phenomenon but distributed across multiple brain regions. To elucidate the circuit mechanism of such distributed activity, we developed an anatomically constrained computational model of large-scale macaque cortex. We found that mnemonic internal states may emerge from inter-areal reverberation, even in a regime where none of the isolated areas is capable of generating self-sustained activity. The mnemonic activity pattern along the cortical hierarchy indicates a transition in space, separating areas engaged in working memory and those which do not. A host of spatially distinct attractor states is found, potentially subserving various internal processes. The model yields testable predictions, including the idea of counterstream inhibitory bias, the role of prefrontal areas in controlling distributed attractors, and the resilience of distributed activity to lesions or inactivation. This work provides a theoretical framework for identifying large-scale brain mechanisms and computational principles of distributed cognitive processes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jorge F Mejías
- Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of AmsterdamAmsterdamNetherlands
| | - Xiao-Jing Wang
- Center for Neural Science, New York UniversityNew YorkUnited States
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Fuster JM. Cognitive Networks (Cognits) Process and Maintain Working Memory. Front Neural Circuits 2022; 15:790691. [PMID: 35115910 PMCID: PMC8803648 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2021.790691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Ever since it was discovered in the monkey’s prefrontal cortex, persistent neuronal activity during the delay period of delay tasks has been considered a phenomenon of working memory. Operationally, this interpretation is correct, because during that delay those tasks require the memorization of a sensory cue, commonly visual. What is incorrect is the assumption that the persistent activity during the delay is caused exclusively by the retention of the sensory cue. In this brief review, the author takes the position that the neural substrate of working memory is an array of long-term memory networks, that is, of cognitive networks (cognits), updated and orderly activated for the attainment of a behavioral goal. In the case of a behavioral task, that activated array of cognits has been previously formed in long-term memory (throughout this text, the expression “long-term memory” refers to all experiences acquired after birth, including habits and so-called procedural memory, such as the learning of a behavioral task). The learning of a task is the forming of synaptic associations between neural representations of three cognitive components of the task: perceptual, motor, and reward-related. Thereafter, when needed, the composite cognit of the task is activated in an orderly fashion to serve working memory in the perception-action cycle. To make his points on a complex issue, which has been the focus of his work, and to delineate a frontier for future research, the author refers to several of his own publications and previously published reviews.
Collapse
|