Dissociable Components of Rule-Guided Behavior Depend on Distinct Medial and Prefrontal Regions

Abstract

Card Sorting Monkeys Single-neuron studies in primates help to establish a detailed understanding of cognitive processing and to provide an experimental base for understanding the cognitive deficits incurred by patients who have suffered damage to areas of the brain. Buckley et al. (p. 52 ) present the results of an intensive behavioral analysis of a group of monkeys bearing lesions to distinct areas of the prefrontal lobe. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Task is widely used in the clinic to assess the flexible learning of abstract rules. In the primates, a functional dissociation was observed across three regions: the principal sulcus, the orbitofrontal cortex, and the anterior cingulate cortex. This set of results contributes to the ongoing discussion of goal-directed behavior and serves to bridge neuropsychological studies in human patients and neurophysiological studies in primates.