Dopamine and Cognitive Control in Prefrontal Cortex

Published on February 1, 2019

Cognitive control, the ability to orchestrate behavior in accord with our goals, depends on the prefrontal cortex. These cognitive functions are heavily influenced by the neuromodulator dopamine. We review here recent insights exploring the influence of dopamine on neuronal response properties in prefrontal cortex (PFC) during ongoing behaviors in primates. This review suggests three major computational roles of dopamine in cognitive control: (i) gating sensory input, (ii) maintaining and manipulating working memory contents, and (iii) relaying motor commands.

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