Neural correlates of working memory development in adolescent primates.
Working memory ability matures after puberty, in parallel with structural changes in the prefrontal cortex, but little is known about how changes in prefrontal neuronal activity mediate this cognitive improvement in primates. To address this issue, we compare behavioural performance and neurophysiological activity in monkeys as they transitioned from puberty into adulthood. Here we report that monkeys perform working memory tasks reliably during puberty and show modest improvement in adulthood. The adult prefrontal cortex is characterized by increased activity during the delay period of the task but no change in the representation of stimuli. Activity evoked by distracting stimuli also decreases in the adult prefrontal cortex. The increase in delay period activity relative to the baseline activity of prefrontal neurons is the best correlate of maturation and is not merely a consequence of improved performance. Our results reveal neural correlates of the working memory improvement typical of primate adolescence.
Department of Neurobiology &Anatomy, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA.|Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Xin
X
Zhou
Department of Neurobiology &Anatomy, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA.
Dantong
D
Zhu
Department of Neurobiology &Anatomy, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA.
Xue-Lian
XL
Qi
Department of Neurobiology &Anatomy, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA.
Sihai
S
Li
Department of Neurobiology &Anatomy, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA.
Samson G
SG
King
Department of Neurobiology &Anatomy, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA.
Emilio
0000-0001-7411-5693
E
Salinas
Department of Neurobiology &Anatomy, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA.
Terrence R
TR
Stanford
Department of Neurobiology &Anatomy, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA.
Christos
C
Constantinidis
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D003463:Cues; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology