It All Depends on the Context, but Also on the Amygdala.
Behavioral flexibility requires the brain to maintain and rely on cognitive contexts for dictating appropriate responses. Saez et al. (2015) demonstrate that such abstract rule-based representations co-exist in prefrontal cortices and in the amygdala, with the latter being surprisingly crucial for correct performance.
Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Yarden
Y
Cohen
Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Electronic address: rony.paz@weizmann.ac.il.
Rony
R
Paz
D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D059031:Anticipation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology*