Task-dependent spatial selectivity in the primate amygdala.

Humans and other animals routinely encounter visual stimuli that indicate whether future reward delivery depends upon the identity or location of a stimulus, or the performance of a particular action. These reinforcement contingencies can influence how much attention is directed toward a stimulus. Neurons in the primate amygdala encode information about the association between visual stimuli and reinforcement as well as about the location of reward-predictive stimuli.