Transforming the Choice Outcome to an Action Plan in Monkey Lateral Prefrontal Cortex: A Neural Circuit Model

In economic decisions, we make a good-based choice first, then we transform the outcome into an action to obtain the good. To elucidate the network mechanisms for such transformation, we constructed a neural circuit model consisting of modules representing choice, integration of choice with target locations, and the final action plan. We examined three scenarios regarding how the final action plan could emerge in the neural circuit and compared their implications with experimental data. Our model with heterogeneous connectivity predicts the coexistence of three types of neurons with distinct functions, confirmed by analyzing the neural activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) of behaving monkeys. We obtained a much more distinct classification of functional neuron types in the ventral than the dorsal region of LPFC, suggesting that the action plan is initially generated in ventral LPFC. Our model offers a biologically plausible neural circuit architecture that implements good-to-action transformation during economic choice. Yim et al. propose a circuit model that implements good-to-action transformation during economic choice. Heterogeneity in circuit synaptic connections is crucial for the coexistence of distinct functional neuron types, which is confirmed by cluster analysis of neuronal activity in LPFC.