Learned Representation of Implied Serial Order in Posterior Parietal Cortex
Abstract Monkeys can learn the implied ranking of pairs of images drawn from an ordered set, despite never seeing all of the images simultaneously and without explicit spatial or temporal cues. We recorded the activity of posterior parietal cortex (including lateral intraparietal area LIP) neurons w...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65838-9 |
| _version_ | 1818722472054226944 |
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| author | Fabian Munoz Greg Jensen Benjamin C. Kennedy Yelda Alkan Herbert S. Terrace Vincent P. Ferrera |
| author_facet | Fabian Munoz Greg Jensen Benjamin C. Kennedy Yelda Alkan Herbert S. Terrace Vincent P. Ferrera |
| author_sort | Fabian Munoz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Monkeys can learn the implied ranking of pairs of images drawn from an ordered set, despite never seeing all of the images simultaneously and without explicit spatial or temporal cues. We recorded the activity of posterior parietal cortex (including lateral intraparietal area LIP) neurons while monkeys learned 7-item transitive inference (TI) lists with 2 items presented on each trial. Behavior and neuronal activity were significantly influenced by the ordinal relationship of the stimulus pairs, specifically symbolic distance (the difference in rank) and joint rank (the sum of the ranks). Symbolic distance strongly predicted decision accuracy and learning rate. An effect of joint rank on performance was found nested within the symbolic distance effect. Across the population of neurons, there was significant modulation of firing correlated with the relative ranks of the two stimuli presented on each trial. Neurons exhibited selectivity for stimulus rank during learning, but not before or after. The observed behavior is poorly explained by associative or reward mechanisms, and appears more consistent with a mental workspace model in which implied serial order is mapped within a spatial framework. The neural data suggest that posterior parietal cortex supports serial learning by representing information about the ordinal relationship of the stimuli presented during a given trial. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T20:55:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a4861d140bbf4e0dbe407237efcafe47 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T20:55:10Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-a4861d140bbf4e0dbe407237efcafe472022-12-21T21:32:54ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222020-06-0110111410.1038/s41598-020-65838-9Learned Representation of Implied Serial Order in Posterior Parietal CortexFabian Munoz0Greg Jensen1Benjamin C. Kennedy2Yelda Alkan3Herbert S. Terrace4Vincent P. Ferrera5Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University Medical CenterZuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia UniversityDepartment of Neurosurgery, Columbia University Medical CenterDepartment of Neuroscience, Columbia University Medical CenterDepartment of Psychology, Columbia UniversityDepartment of Neuroscience, Columbia University Medical CenterAbstract Monkeys can learn the implied ranking of pairs of images drawn from an ordered set, despite never seeing all of the images simultaneously and without explicit spatial or temporal cues. We recorded the activity of posterior parietal cortex (including lateral intraparietal area LIP) neurons while monkeys learned 7-item transitive inference (TI) lists with 2 items presented on each trial. Behavior and neuronal activity were significantly influenced by the ordinal relationship of the stimulus pairs, specifically symbolic distance (the difference in rank) and joint rank (the sum of the ranks). Symbolic distance strongly predicted decision accuracy and learning rate. An effect of joint rank on performance was found nested within the symbolic distance effect. Across the population of neurons, there was significant modulation of firing correlated with the relative ranks of the two stimuli presented on each trial. Neurons exhibited selectivity for stimulus rank during learning, but not before or after. The observed behavior is poorly explained by associative or reward mechanisms, and appears more consistent with a mental workspace model in which implied serial order is mapped within a spatial framework. The neural data suggest that posterior parietal cortex supports serial learning by representing information about the ordinal relationship of the stimuli presented during a given trial.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65838-9 |
| spellingShingle | Fabian Munoz Greg Jensen Benjamin C. Kennedy Yelda Alkan Herbert S. Terrace Vincent P. Ferrera Learned Representation of Implied Serial Order in Posterior Parietal Cortex Scientific Reports |
| title | Learned Representation of Implied Serial Order in Posterior Parietal Cortex |
| title_full | Learned Representation of Implied Serial Order in Posterior Parietal Cortex |
| title_fullStr | Learned Representation of Implied Serial Order in Posterior Parietal Cortex |
| title_full_unstemmed | Learned Representation of Implied Serial Order in Posterior Parietal Cortex |
| title_short | Learned Representation of Implied Serial Order in Posterior Parietal Cortex |
| title_sort | learned representation of implied serial order in posterior parietal cortex |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65838-9 |
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