Ricerc@Sapienza

Our everyday actions depend on the context in which we behave. Image, for instance, to be sitting at the restaurant with a dear friend. It would be appropriate to grab a piece of food from his/her plate. On the contrary, it would be very unbecoming to taste the food of a stranger who is sitting at the table next to ours. This ability to switch between rules is critical for healthy and reasonable decision making and, in more general term, for executive controls. Several studies have shown that neurons in prefrontal cortex (PF) may serve this function (Tsujimoto et al., 2011). In particular, Rudebeck P.H. and Murray E.A., (2008) showed that monkeys with lesions in orbital prefrontal cortex (PFo) were not able to switch between rules, suggesting that the PFo is a critical site for adaptive and flexible behavior. How, then, the switch between behavioral rules, according to environmental circumstances, is linked to the activity of PFo neurons? This is the question we would answer to.
In the experimental task we would analyze, two monkeys were trained to choose between two spatial targets, one on the left and one on the right of a central spot that appeared on a screen. In each execution of the task, called trial, the choice was made according to a strategy rule. This strategy rule could be 'stay' or 'shift'. The stay rule instructed the monkey to choose the same spatial target chosen in the preceding trial, while the shift rule instructed the monkey to choose the alternative target. It is worth noting that in each trial the strategy rule could be the same as the previous trial (no switch) or it can be different (switch).

Tsujimoto S, Genovesio A, Wise SP. 2009. Comparison of strategy signals in the dorsolateral and orbital prefrontal cortex. J. Neurosci. 31(12):4583-4592;

Rudebeck Peter H. and Murray Elisabeth A. 2008. Amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex lesions differentially influence choices during object reversal learning. J. Neurosci. 28(33): 8338-8343.