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SUMMARY:LCN Seminar: Bump attractor dynamics explains behavioral precision
  in spatial working memory: neurophysiology and psychophysics
DTSTART:20141009T133000
DTSTAMP:20260407T081523Z
UID:f93c9655cd18d22a7dbe406baf5a083e909b726a193b88594616701b
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Albert COMPTE\, Theoretical Neurobiology of Cortical Circuits\
 , IDIBAPS\, Barcelona\nPrefrontal persistent activity during the delay of 
 spatial working memory tasks is thought to maintain spatial location in me
 mory. A “bump attractor” computational model can account for this phys
 iology and its relation to behavior. However\, direct experimental evidenc
 e for such bump representation of memorized location is still lacking. Her
 e\, we test model-derived predictions in PFC responses and in human psycho
 physical responses in these tasks. We confirm predictive relationships bet
 ween the variability of prefrontal activity in the delay and the fine deta
 ils of recalled spatial location\, evident in trial-to-trial imprecise ocu
 lomotor responses. Furthermore\, we find behavioral evidence for attractio
 n of memorized adjacent locations\, as expected in a model with multiple b
 ump attractors. The results support a diffusing bump representation for sp
 atial working memory maintenance instantiated in persistent prefrontal act
 ivity. The findings reinforce persistent activity as a basis for spatial w
 orking memory\, provide evidence for a continuous prefrontal representatio
 n of memorized space\, and offer experimental support for bump attractor d
 ynamics mediating cognitive tasks in the cortex.
LOCATION:AAC132 http://plan.epfl.ch/?room=AAC132
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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