
==== Front
bioRxiv
BIORXIV
bioRxiv
2692-8205
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

10.1101/2024.08.28.610140
preprint
1
Article
Prefrontal working memory signal primarily controls phase-coded information within extrastriate cortex
Parto-Dezfouli Mohsen http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9064-2212

Vanegas Isabel http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9896-0349

Zarei Mohammad
Nesse William H.
Clark Kelsey L.
Noudoost Behrad
29 8 2024
2024.08.28.610140https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.
http://biorxiv.org/lookup/doi/10.1101/2024.08.28.610140
nihpp-2024.08.28.610140.pdf
Abstract

In order to understand how prefrontal cortex provides the benefits of working memory (WM) for visual processing we examined the influence of WM on the representation of visual signals in V4 neurons in two macaque monkeys. We found that WM induces strong β oscillations in V4 and that the timing of action potentials relative to this oscillation reflects sensory information-i.e., a phase coding of visual information. Pharmacologically inactivating the Frontal Eye Field part of prefrontal cortex, we confirmed the necessity of prefrontal signals for the WM-driven boost in phase coding of visual information. Indeed, changes in the average firing rate of V4 neurons could be accounted for by WM-induced oscillatory changes. We present a network model to describe how WM signals can recruit sensory areas primarily by inducing oscillations within these areas and discuss the implications of these findings for a sensory recruitment theory of WM through coherence.
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