Abstract
Flexible behavior requires the brain to maintain information while selecting actions according to context. The primate prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been implicated in both working memory and cognitive control, yet how contextual and stimulus information coexist in neural population activity remains unclear. In this dissertation, I investigate contextual coding in macaque PFC using extracellular spike recordings during goal-directed tasks. In Chapter 2, animals performed two spatial working-memory tasks with opposing goals. Despite these opposing demands, spatial information was represented in a shared low-dimensional neural subspace across both tasks, whereas task identity was encoded in an orthogonal subspace, indicating that contextual and stimulus information can be simultaneously represented without interference in the PFC. In Chapter 3, we extended this approach to six tasks and recorded large neural populations in the PFC using high-density probes. Task information was represented in preparatory population activity with a systematic geometry in neural subspace that generalized across different PFC neural populations. Task representations evolved dynamically across tasks while remaining stable within each task, consistent with behavioral dynamics. Together, these findings provide insight into how the PFC supports flexible, goal-directed behavior.
Committee Chair
Lawrence Snyder
Committee Members
Edward Han; Gaia Tavoni; Lucas Pinto; ShiNung Ching
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Author's Department
Biology & Biomedical Sciences (Neurosciences)
Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
4-22-2026
Language
English (en)
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7936/b0dm-tf32
Recommended Citation
Park, Jeong Jun, "Contextual Coding in the Prefrontal Cortex" (2026). Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations. 3780.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.7936/b0dm-tf32