A02Architectonic organization of prefrontal cortex-related neural networks involved in action selection Research Outline

 The prefrontal cortex is well-developed in primates and exerts a variety of cognitive control on behaviors (e.g. working memory, selective attention, problem solving, and decision making). Recent success of artificial intelligence program AlphaGo in combining supervised learning and reinforcement learning indicates that these higher-order functions in the prefrontal cortex are supported by communication with subcortical areas such as basal ganglia, and cerebellum. Thus, to know the neural mechanism of these functions, revealing the anatomical architecture of these networks is critical. In this project, we aim to elucidate the organization of neural networks that arise from the prefrontal cortex by developing and applying multicolored retrograde transneuronal tracing techniques based on viral vectors we have recently developed.