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Neuronal correlates of metacognition in primate frontal cortex.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Middlebrooks, PG; Sommer, MA
Published in: Neuron
August 2012

Humans are metacognitive: they monitor and control their cognition. Our hypothesis was that neuronal correlates of metacognition reside in the same brain areas responsible for cognition, including frontal cortex. Recent work demonstrated that nonhuman primates are capable of metacognition, so we recorded from single neurons in the frontal eye field, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and supplementary eye field of monkeys (Macaca mulatta) that performed a metacognitive visual-oculomotor task. The animals made a decision and reported it with a saccade, but received no immediate reward or feedback. Instead, they had to monitor their decision and bet whether it was correct. Activity was correlated with decisions and bets in all three brain areas, but putative metacognitive activity that linked decisions to appropriate bets occurred exclusively in the SEF. Our results offer a survey of neuronal correlates of metacognition and implicate the SEF in linking cognitive functions over short periods of time.

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Published In

Neuron

DOI

EISSN

1097-4199

ISSN

0896-6273

Publication Date

August 2012

Volume

75

Issue

3

Start / End Page

517 / 530

Related Subject Headings

  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Neurons
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Male
  • Macaca mulatta
  • Frontal Lobe
  • Electrophysiology
  • Cognition
  • Animals
  • 5202 Biological psychology
 

Citation

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Middlebrooks, P. G., & Sommer, M. A. (2012). Neuronal correlates of metacognition in primate frontal cortex. Neuron, 75(3), 517–530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2012.05.028
Middlebrooks, Paul G., and Marc A. Sommer. “Neuronal correlates of metacognition in primate frontal cortex.Neuron 75, no. 3 (August 2012): 517–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2012.05.028.
Middlebrooks PG, Sommer MA. Neuronal correlates of metacognition in primate frontal cortex. Neuron. 2012 Aug;75(3):517–30.
Middlebrooks, Paul G., and Marc A. Sommer. “Neuronal correlates of metacognition in primate frontal cortex.Neuron, vol. 75, no. 3, Aug. 2012, pp. 517–30. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2012.05.028.
Middlebrooks PG, Sommer MA. Neuronal correlates of metacognition in primate frontal cortex. Neuron. 2012 Aug;75(3):517–530.
Journal cover image

Published In

Neuron

DOI

EISSN

1097-4199

ISSN

0896-6273

Publication Date

August 2012

Volume

75

Issue

3

Start / End Page

517 / 530

Related Subject Headings

  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Neurons
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Male
  • Macaca mulatta
  • Frontal Lobe
  • Electrophysiology
  • Cognition
  • Animals
  • 5202 Biological psychology