Medial to lateral frontal functional connectivity mapping reveals the organization of cingulate cortex.

The functional organization of the frontal lobe is a source of debate, focusing on broad functional subdivisions, large-scale networks, or local refined specificities. Multiple neurocognitive models have tried to explain how functional interactions between cingulate and lateral frontal regions contribute to decision making and cognitive control, but their neuroanatomical bases remain unclear. We provide a detailed description of the functional connectivity between cingulate and lateral frontal regions using resting-state functional MRI in rhesus macaques.

A Possible Neural Basis for Attentional Capture of Faces Revealed by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Causal Pharmacological Inactivation in Macaques.

In primates, the presence of a face in a visual scene captures attention and rapidly directs the observer's gaze to the face, even when the face is not relevant to the task at hand. Here, we explored a neural circuit that might potentially play a causal role in this powerful behavior. In our previous research, two monkeys received microinfusions of muscimol, a γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA)-receptor agonist, or saline (as a control condition) in separate sessions into individual or pairs of four inferotemporal face patches (middle and anterior lateral and fundal), as identified by an initial localizer experiment.

Differential functional organization of amygdala-medial prefrontal cortex networks in macaque and human.

Over the course of evolution, the amygdala (AMG) and medial frontal cortex (mPFC) network, involved in behavioral adaptation, underwent structural changes in the old-world monkey and human lineages. Yet, whether and how the functional organization of this network differs remains poorly understood. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imagery, we show that the functional connectivity (FC) between AMG nuclei and mPFC regions differs between humans and awake macaques.

Separate and overlapping mechanisms of statistical regularities and salience processing in the occipital cortex and dorsal attention network.

Attention selects behaviorally relevant inputs for in-depth processing. Beside the role of traditional signals related to goal-directed and stimulus-driven control, a debate exists regarding the mechanisms governing the effect of statistical regularities on attentional selection, and how these are integrated with other control signals. Using a visuo-spatial search task under fMRI, we tested the joint effects of statistical regularities and stimulus-driven salience.