The DOI matches its Crossref record; 105 of the 105 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Variability in neuronal activity in primate cortex during working memory tasks
Abstract
Persistent elevated neuronal activity has been identified as the neuronal correlate of working memory. It is generally assumed in the literature and in computational and theoretical models of working memory that memory-cell activity is stable and replicable; however, this assumption may be an artifact of the averaging of data collected across trials, and needs experimental verification. In this study, we introduce a classification scheme to characterize the firing frequency trends of cells recorded from the cortex of monkeys during performance of working memory tasks. We examine the frequency statistics and variability of firing during baseline and memory periods. We also study the behavior of cells on individual trials and across trials, and explore the stability of cellular firing during the memory period. We find that cells from different firing-trend classes possess markedly different statistics. We also find that individual cells show substantial variability in their firing behavior across trials, and that firing frequency also varies markedly over the course of a single trial. Finally, the average frequency distribution is wider, the magnitude of the frequency increases from baseline to memory smaller, and the magnitude of frequency decreases larger than is generally assumed. These results may serve as a guide in the evaluation of current theories of the cortical mechanisms of working memory.
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In the citing paper
“Besides the memory for reward, the activity of primate cortical neurons reflects other types of short-term memory.”
From A reservoir of time constants for memory traces in cortical neurons (2011) · cites this paper as [43]
In the citing paper
“The time course of memory-related activity varies across different neurons and different task protocols, including persistent, ramping, and multi-phasic activity41-43.”
From A reservoir of time constants for memory traces in cortical neurons (2011) · cites this paper as [43]
Citations
Cites
An Integrative Theory of Prefrontal Cortex Function
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Mnemonic coding of visual space in the monkey's dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
Funahashi, S., Bruce, C. J., & Goldman-Rakic, P. S. (1989) · Journal of Neurophysiology · doi:10.1152/jn.1989.61.2.331 · Cited by 2,685
Cellular basis of working memory
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Fuster, J. M. (1997) · Cited by 2,095
Self-citationNeuron Activity Related to Short-Term Memory
Fuster, J. M., & Alexander, G. E. (1971) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.173.3997.652 · Cited by 2,085
Self-citationDynamics of Sparsely Connected Networks of Excitatory and Inhibitory Spiking Neurons
Brunel, N. (2000) · Journal of Computational Neuroscience · doi:10.1023/a:1008925309027 · Cited by 1,737
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Items 201–213 of 213
Phasic attractors for flexible and adaptive working memory in spiking recurrent neural networks
Girão, W. S., Tiotto, T. F., Borst, J. P., Taatgen, N., & Chicca, E. (2025) · Neuromorphic Computing and Engineering · doi:10.1088/2634-4386/ade7ab
Fabricating Elements of Slow Electronics with Functional Materials
Inoue, H., & Yajima, T. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-96-8383-3_3
Short-term plasticity-based working memory spiking model is resilient to synaptic heterogeneity
Tiddia, G., Sergi, L., Rubiu, S., Incollu, A., & Golosio, B. (2025) · Physical review. E · doi:10.1103/zcmm-3cgh
Defining a Role for Lateral Prefrontal Cortex in Memory-Guided Decisions About Visual Motion
Pasternak, T. (2015) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-801371-7.00012-0
Oscillations and spike statistics in biophysical attractor networks
Lundqvist, M. (2013) · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
Synergistic Short-Term Synaptic Plasticity Mechanisms for Working Memory
Fiebig, F., Chrysanthidis, N., Lansner, A., & Herman, P. A. (2026) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn.a.2582
Transient dynamics and population coding in networks of neurons
Bondanelli, G. (2019) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/aa2f2682z1b1dz4b19z9275z1e990e54bc24
Sarazin, M. (2021) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/bbd73c82z58a3z46c2za17cz56614cc8acbd
Leroux, M. (2023) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/d51b586bz96daz4ecbzbac2zc54c3576aef2
Liu, J., Wang, Y. M., Xu, X., & Pan, X. (2026) · Cognitive Neurodynamics · doi:10.1007/s11571-026-10484-6
Network mechanisms of memory storage in the balanced cortex
Barri, A. (2014) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/0da10353z2c27z4dbfzb81ez48920c8a9a06
Metadata
- Authors
- Shafi, M., Zhou, Y., Quintana, J., Chow, C., Fuster, J., & Bodner, M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Corresponding author
- Fuster, J.
- Bodner, M.
- Venue
- Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2007-05
- Volume
- 146
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 1082-1108
- ISSN
- 0306-4522 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1963850213
- Cited by
- 215
- References
- 105
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 2.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Whitehall Foundation
- Mind and Life Institute (MH-01508)
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH-25082, MH-51697)
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Keywords
- working memory, firing rate, persistent neuronal activity, primate cortex, single-unit recording, trial-to-trial variability, baseline activity
- MeSH terms
- Algorithms, Animals, Haplorhini, Cerebral Cortex, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Electrophysiology, Extracellular Space, Memory, Short-Term, Nerve Net, Neurons, Parietal Lobe, Prefrontal Cortex
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