Primate amygdala neurons evaluate the progress of self-defined economic choice sequences.

The amygdala is a prime valuation structure yet its functions in advanced behaviors are poorly understood. We tested whether individual amygdala neurons encode a critical requirement for goal-directed behavior: the evaluation of progress during sequential choices. As monkeys progressed through choice sequences toward rewards, amygdala neurons showed phasic, gradually increasing responses over successive choice steps. These responses occurred in the absence of external progress cues or motor preplanning. They were often specific to self-defined sequences, typically disappearing during instructed control sequences with similar reward expectation. Their build-up rate reflected prospectively the forthcoming choice sequence, suggesting adaptation to an internal plan. Population decoding demonstrated a high-accuracy progress code. These findings indicate that amygdala neurons evaluate the progress of planned, self-defined behavioral sequences. Such progress signals seem essential for aligning stepwise choices with internal plans. Their presence in amygdala neurons may inform understanding of human conditions with amygdala dysfunction and deregulated reward pursuit

Monitoring extracellular pH, oxygen, and dopamine during reward delivery in the striatum of primates

Dopamine projections that extend from the ventral tegmental area to the striatum have been implicated in the biological basis for behaviors associated with reward and addiction. Until recently, it has been difficult to evaluate the complex balance of energy utilization and neural activity in the striatum. Many techniques such as electrophysiology, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and fast-scan cyclic voltammetry have been employed to monitor these neurochemical and neurophysiological changes. In this brain region, physiological responses to cues and rewards cause local, transient pH changes. Oxygen and pH are coupled in the brain through a complex system of blood flow and metabolism as a result of transient neural activity. Indeed, this balance is at the heart of imaging studies such as fMRI. To this end, we measured pH and O2 changes with fast-scan cyclic voltammetry in the striatum as indices of changes in metabolism and blood flow in vivo in three Macaca mulatta monkeys during reward-based behaviors. Specifically, the animals were presented with Pavlovian conditioned cues that predicted different probabilities of liquid reward. They also received free reward without predictive cues. The primary detected change consisted of pH shifts in the striatal extracellular environment following the reward predicting cues or the free reward. We observed three types of cue responses that consisted of purely basic pH shifts, basic pH shifts followed by acidic pH shifts, and purely acidic pH shifts. These responses increased with reward probability, but were not significantly different from each other. The pH changes were accompanied by increases in extracellular O2. The changes in pH and extracellular O2 are consistent with current theories of metabolism and blood flow. However, they were of sufficient magnitude that they masked dopamine changes in the majority of cases. The findings suggest a role of these chemical responses in neuronal reward processing

The Evolution of Primate Short-Term Memory.

Short-term memory is implicated in a range of cognitive abilities and is critical for understanding primate cognitive evolution. To investigate the effects of phylogeny, ecology and sociality on short-term memory, we tested the largest and most diverse primate sample to date (421 non-human primates across 41 species) in an experimental delayed-response task. Our results confirm previous findings that longer delays decrease memory performance across species and taxa. Our analyses demonstrate a considerable contribution of phylogeny over ecological and social factors on the distribution of short-term memory performance in primates; closely related species had more similar short-term memory abilities. Overall, individuals in the branch of Hominoidea performed better compared to Cercopithecoidea, who in turn performed above Platyrrhini and Strepsirrhini. Interdependencies between phylogeny and socioecology of a given species presented an obstacle to disentangling the effects of each of these factors on the evolution of short-term memory capacity. However, this study offers an important step forward in understanding the interspecies and individual variation in short-term memory ability by providing the first phylogenetic reconstruction of this trait’s evolutionary history. The dataset constitutes a unique resource for studying the evolution of primate cognition and the role of short-term memory in other cognitive abilities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Evolution of Primate Short-Term Memory

Short-term memory is implicated in a range of cognitive abilities and is critical for understanding primate cognitive evolution. To investigate the effects of phylogeny, ecology and sociality on short-term memory, we tested the largest and most diverse primate sample to date (421 non-human primates across 41 species) in an experimental delayed-response task. Our results confirm previous findings that longer delays decrease memory performance across species and taxa. Our analyses demonstrate a considerable contribution of phylogeny over ecological and social factors on the distribution of short-term memory performance in primates; closely related species had more similar short-term memory abilities. Overall, individuals in the branch of Hominoidea performed better compared to Cercopithecoidea, who in turn performed above Platyrrhini and Strepsirrhini. Interdependencies between phylogeny and socioecology of a given species presented an obstacle to disentangling the effects of each of these factors on the evolution of short-term memory capacity. However, this study offers an important step forward in understanding the interspecies and individual variation in short-term memory ability by providing the first phylogenetic reconstruction of this trait’s evolutionary history. The dataset constitutes a unique resource for studying the evolution of primate cognition and the role of short-term memory in other cognitive abilities

No effects of a single 3G UMTS mobile phone exposure on spontaneous EEG activity, ERP correlates, and automatic deviance detection

International audiencePotential effects of a 30 min exposure to third generation (3G) Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile phone-like electromagnetic fields (EMFs) were investigated on human brain electrical activity in two experiments. In the first experiment, spontaneous electroencephalography (sEEG) was analyzed (n=17); in the second experiment, auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) and automatic deviance detection processes reflected by mismatch negativity (MMN) were investigated in a passive oddball paradigm (n=26). Both sEEG and ERP experiments followed a double-blind protocol where subjects were exposed to either genuine or sham irradiation in two separate sessions. In both experiments, electroencephalograms (EEG) were recorded at midline electrode sites before and after exposure while subjects were watching a silent documentary. Spectral power of sEEG data was analyzed in the delta, theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands. In the ERP experiment, subjects were presented with a random series of standard (90%) and frequency-deviant (10%) tones in a passive binaural oddball paradigm. The amplitude and latency of the P50, N100, P200, MMN, and P3a components were analyzed. We found no measurable effects of a 30 min 3G mobile phone irradiation on the EEG spectral power in any frequency band studied. Also, we found no significant effects of EMF irradiation on the amplitude and latency of any of the ERP components. In summary, the present results do not support the notion that a 30 min unilateral 3G EMF exposure interferes with human sEEG activity, auditory evoked potentials or automatic deviance detection indexed by MMN

Discrete coding of stimulus value, reward expectation, and reward prediction error in the dorsal striatum

To investigate how the striatum integrates sensory information with reward information for behavioral guidance, we recorded single-unit activity in the dorsal striatum of head-fixed rats participating in a probabilistic Pavlovian conditioning task with auditory conditioned stimuli (CSs) in which reward probability was fixed for each CS but parametrically varied across CSs. We found that the activity of many neurons was linearly correlated with the reward probability indicated by the CSs. The recorded neurons could be classified according to their firing patterns into functional subtypes coding reward probability in different forms, such as stimulus value, reward expectation, and reward prediction error. These results suggest that several functional subgroups of dorsal striatal neurons represent different kinds of information formed through extensive prior exposure to CS-reward contingencies

Absence of short-term effects of UMTS exposure on the human auditory system

The aim of this study, which was performed in the framework of the European project EMFnEAR, was to investigate the potential effects of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS, also known as 3G) exposure at a high specific absorption rate (SAR) on the human auditory system. Participants were healthy young adults with no hearing or ear disorders. Auditory function was assessed immediately before and after exposure to radiofrequency (RF) radiation, and only the exposed ear was tested. Tests for the assessment of auditory function were hearing threshold level (HTL), distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE), contralateral suppression of transiently evoked otoacoustic emission (CAS effect on TEOAE), and auditory evoked potentials (AEP). The exposure consisted of speech at a typical conversational level delivered via an earphone to one ear, plus genuine or sham RF-radiation exposure obtained by an exposure system based on a patch antenna and controlled by software. Results from 73 participants did not show any consistent pattern of effects on the auditory system after a 20-min UMTS exposure at 1947 MHz at a maximum SAR over 1 g of 1.75 W/kg at a position equivalent to the cochlea. Analysis entailed a double-blind comparison of genuine and sham exposure. It is concluded that short-term UMTS exposure at this relatively high SAR does not cause measurable immediate effects on the human auditory syste