Distributed functions of prefrontal and parietal cortices during sequential categorical decisions.

Comparing sequential stimuli is crucial for guiding complex behaviors. To understand mechanisms underlying sequential decisions, we compared neuronal responses in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the lateral intraparietal (LIP), and medial intraparietal (MIP) areas in monkeys trained to decide whether sequentially presented stimuli were from matching (M) or nonmatching (NM) categories. We found that PFC leads M/NM decisions, whereas LIP and MIP appear more involved in stimulus evaluation and motor planning, respectively.

Computing by Robust Transience: How the Fronto-Parietal Network Performs Sequential, Category-Based Decisions.

Decision making involves dynamic interplay between internal judgements and external perception, which has been investigated in delayed match-to-category (DMC) experiments. Our analysis of neural recordings shows that, during DMC tasks, LIP and PFC neurons demonstrate mixed, time-varying, and heterogeneous selectivity, but previous theoretical work has not established the link between these neural characteristics and population-level computations. We trained a recurrent network model to perform DMC tasks and found that the model can remarkably reproduce key features of neuronal selectivity at the single-neuron and population levels.

A comparison of lateral and medial intraparietal areas during a visual categorization task.

Categorization is essential for interpreting sensory stimuli and guiding our actions. Recent studies have revealed robust neuronal category representations in the lateral intraparietal area (LIP). Here, we examine the specialization of LIP for categorization and the roles of other parietal areas by comparing LIP and the medial intraparietal area (MIP) during a visual categorization task.

Visual categorization and the parietal cortex.

The primate brain is adept at rapidly grouping items and events into functional classes, or categories, in order to recognize the significance of stimuli and guide behavior. Higher cognitive functions have traditionally been considered the domain of frontal areas. However, increasing evidence suggests that parietal cortex is also involved in categorical and associative processes.

Preferential encoding of visual categories in parietal cortex compared with prefrontal cortex.

The ability to recognize the behavioral relevance, or category membership, of sensory stimuli is critical for interpreting the meaning of events in our environment. Neurophysiological studies of visual categorization have found categorical representations of stimuli in prefrontal cortex (PFC), an area that is closely associated with cognitive and executive functions. Recent studies have also identified neuronal category signals in parietal areas that are typically associated with visual-spatial processing.

Cortical neural precursors inhibit their own differentiation via N-cadherin maintenance of beta-catenin signaling.

Little is known about the architecture of cellular microenvironments that support stem and precursor cells during tissue development. Although adult stem cell niches are organized by specialized supporting cells, in the developing cerebral cortex, neural stem/precursor cells reside in a neurogenic niche lacking distinct supporting cells. Here, we find that neural precursors themselves comprise the niche and regulate their own development.

Persistent expression of stabilized beta-catenin delays maturation of radial glial cells into intermediate progenitors.

Transgenic mice expressing stabilized beta-catenin in neural progenitors develop enlarged brains resulting from increased progenitor expansion. To more precisely define beta-catenin regulation of progenitor fate, we employed a conditional transgenic approach to delete the beta-catenin regulatory domain from neural progenitors, resulting in expression of stabilized protein from its endogenous promoter in these cells and their progeny. An increased fraction of transgenic cortical cells express the progenitor markers Nestin and LewisX, confirming a relative expansion of this population.