行動決定と前頭連合野の階層構造的情報処理機構(第21回大会シンポジウム1 認知プロセスにおける表象の創出と統合)

概要

論文の詳細を見る
Prefrontal cortex is believed to be involved in the executive control of behavior, particularly in complex situations. Using a multidimensional go/no-go task with macaque monkeys, however, we found that many prefrontal neurons were activated by irrelevant visual information that could interfere with the control of behavior. Here we show further evidence on the nature of prefrontal responses to irrelevant information, and propose a model that can explain how irrelevant stimulus-response codes compete with relevant stimulus-response codes in prefrontal cortex. Long-term training enables fixed associations between visual features and behavioral responses. Top-down attention can modulate the activity of these long-term codes depending on task requirements, but appears unable to completely suppress irrelevant codes. Consequently, congruency effects emerge in neurons that integrate information from different visual sources to compute the appropriate behavior. Thus, the decision-making process is more efficient when both relevant and irrelevant stimulus features activate the same response than when they activate different responses. These congruency effects in prefrontal cortex may lead to congruency effects in go/no-go behavior.
日本基礎心理学会の論文
2003-09-30