Microscopic and mesoscopic effects of reward uncertainty in monkey fronto-parietal areas

Abstract

30Theories of executive function propose that controlled information processing is costly and is 31 allocated according to the behavioral benefits it brings. Computational theories predict that the 32 benefits of new information depend on prior uncertainty, but the cellular effects of uncertainty on 33 the executive network are incompletely understood. Using simultaneous recordings in monkeys, 34we reveal several mechanisms by which the fronto-parietal network reacts to uncertainty 35independently of average reward gains. We show that the variance of expected rewards, 36independently of the value of the rewards, was represented in single neuron and population 37 spiking activity and local field potential (LFP) oscillations. Moreover, uncertainty asymmetrically 38 affected the coherence between spikes and LFPs, selectively suppressing information 39 transmission from the frontal to the parietal lobe but enhancing transmission from the parietal to 40 the frontal lobe, consistent with Bayesian principles of optimal inference under uncertainty. 41 42