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An adaptive coding model of neural function in prefrontal cortex
Authors:
DUNCAN, J.
Reference:
Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2(11), 820-829
Year of publication:
2001
CBU number:
5097
Abstract:
Prefrontal cortex plays a vital part in effective, organized behaviour. Both functional neuroimaging and awake monkey electrophysiology suggest that a fundamental principle of prefrontal function may be adaptive neural coding - in large regions of prefrontal cortex, neurons adapt their properties to carry just that information of relevance to current concerns, producing a dense, distributed representation of related inputs, actions, rewards and other information. A model based on such adaptive coding integrates the role of prefrontal cortex in working memory, attention and control. Adaptive coding suggests new perspectives on a number of basic questions, including mapping of cognitive to neurophysiological functions, the roles of task content and difficulty, and the nature of frontal lobe specializations.