Neurons with inverted tuning during the delay periods of working memory tasks in the dorsal prefrontal and posterior parietal cortex

The dorsolateral prefrontal and posterior parietal cortices are two interconnected brain areas that are coactivated in tasks involving functions such as spatial attention and working memory. The response properties of neurons in the two areas are in many respects indistinguishable, yet only prefrontal neurons are able to resist interference by distracting stimuli when subjects are required to remember an initial stimulus. Several mechanisms have been proposed that could account for this functional difference, including the existence of specialized interneuron types, specific to the prefrontal cortex. Although such neurons with inverted tuning during the delay period of a working memory task have been described in the prefrontal cortex, no comparative data exist from other cortical areas that would establish a unique prefrontal role. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed a large database of recordings obtained in the dorsolateral prefrontal and posterior parietal cortex of the same monkeys as they performed working memory tasks. We found that in the prefrontal cortex, neurons with inverted tuning were more numerous and manifested unique properties. Our results give credence to the idea that a division of labor exists between separate neuron types in the prefrontal cortex and that this represents a functional specialization that is not present in its cortical afferents.