Abstract: DESCRIPTION (adapted from applicant's abstract): This proposal examines two kinds of working memory-memory for shape and space- at the cellular level using a single unit recording technique in awake behaving rhesus monkeys. Much work suggests that perceptual processing proceeds along two cortical paths in temporal and parietal cortices, often characterized as the 'what' and where pathways, respectively. Both pathways project to regions of prefrontal cortex. Previous work has not been careful in the manipulation of featural and spatial working memory requirements and no study has compared cell response to both kinds of working memory within the same cortical area with identical visual conditions. Using the proposed paradigms, we have just finished recording from posterior parietal and inferior temporal cortices of animals performing these tasks where we found quite different patterns of findings. This study will provide valuable information as to whether working memory of shape and space are physiologically segregated in prefrontal cortex. We will also be able to report exactly how these types of working memory modulate cell response and how this relates to the sensory and motor response of the cell. Further, we will be able to compare the findings directly to data we have obtained from posterior parietal and inferior temporal cortices. Prefrontal cortex has been implicated in a variety of human neurological and mental diseases, including Parkinson's disease. Huntington's chorea, Korsakoff's disease, and schizophrenia. Little work in the neuropsvchology of memory has focused on short-term or working memory. Characterization of mechanisms related to working memory in prefrontal cortex may prove useful for better understanding what role short-term or working memory deficits play in the cognitive and psychiatric abnormalities that are associated with these conditions.

Thesaurus Terms:
form /pattern perception, neurophysiology, prefrontal lobe /cortex, short term memory, space perception
temporal lobe /cortex
Macaca mulatta, behavior test, behavioral /social science research tag, computer data analysis, electrode, histology, single cell analysis

Institution: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON
BOX 20036
HOUSTON, TX 77225
Fiscal Year: 2006
Department: NEUROBIOLOGY AND ANATOMY
Project Start: 01-APR-2001
Project End: 31-MAR-2008
ICD: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
IRG: IFCN

Intraparietal Area During Spatial and Shape-Delayed Match-to-Sample Tasks
 
Anne B. Sereno^1,2 and Silvia C. Amador<sup>1

1</sup>Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Texas—Houston Medical School; and ²Division of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

Submitted 27 April 2005; accepted in final form 2 October 2005
J Neurophysiol 95: 1078-1098, 2006

Animals, animal care, and surgical procedures
Two rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were first implanted with a head post and scleral search coil in an aseptic surgery and then trained to perform two delayed match-to-sample tasks (DMTS) and a passive fixation task, obtaining a liquid reward for every correct trial. After completion of behavioral training, a recording chamber was implanted. The chambers were centered, 3–5 mm posterior and 10–12 mm lateral, over the right cerebral hemisphere. All experimental protocols were approved by the University of Texas and Baylor College of Medicine Animal Welfare Committees and were in accordance with the National Institutes of Health Guidelines.