Reward monitoring in the frontopolar cortex of macaques

Abstract Reward processing involves several prefrontal cortex areas, enabling individuals to learn from behavioral outcomes and shape decisions. However, the role of the frontopolar cortex (FPC) in these processes remains unclear due to limited single-neuron research. In this study, we recorded neur...

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Main Authors: Lorenzo Ferrucci, Francesco Ceccarelli, Fabrizio Londei, Giulia Arena, Leyla Elyasizad, Simon Nougaret, Aldo Genovesio
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-05-01
Series:Scientific Reports
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99019-3
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author Lorenzo Ferrucci
Francesco Ceccarelli
Fabrizio Londei
Giulia Arena
Leyla Elyasizad
Simon Nougaret
Aldo Genovesio
author_facet Lorenzo Ferrucci
Francesco Ceccarelli
Fabrizio Londei
Giulia Arena
Leyla Elyasizad
Simon Nougaret
Aldo Genovesio
author_sort Lorenzo Ferrucci
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Reward processing involves several prefrontal cortex areas, enabling individuals to learn from behavioral outcomes and shape decisions. However, the role of the frontopolar cortex (FPC) in these processes remains unclear due to limited single-neuron research. In this study, we recorded neural activity from the FPC of two macaques performing a fast-learning task, the object-in-place reward task, which examined how reward size affects learning. Results showed that FPC feedback monitoring activity extends to the value of specific choices. Moreover, once the association between scenes and reward had been learned, FPC neural activity before choice reflected the future animal’s behavior to stay or to switch on their previous behavioral strategy, i.e., to choose the same target or the other one. These results suggest that FPC neurons integrated information for action monitoring and later reprocessed it to decide the best behavioral strategy to adopt, determining whether to maintain or change the action plan.
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spelling doaj-art-af12e470118e4b108cee96904a89193f2025-08-20T03:10:12ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-05-0115111410.1038/s41598-025-99019-3Reward monitoring in the frontopolar cortex of macaquesLorenzo Ferrucci0Francesco Ceccarelli1Fabrizio Londei2Giulia Arena3Leyla Elyasizad4Simon Nougaret5Aldo Genovesio6Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of RomeDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of RomeDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of RomeDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of RomeDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of RomeInstitut de Neurosciences de La Timone, UMR 7289, Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique and Aix-Marseille UniversiteDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of RomeAbstract Reward processing involves several prefrontal cortex areas, enabling individuals to learn from behavioral outcomes and shape decisions. However, the role of the frontopolar cortex (FPC) in these processes remains unclear due to limited single-neuron research. In this study, we recorded neural activity from the FPC of two macaques performing a fast-learning task, the object-in-place reward task, which examined how reward size affects learning. Results showed that FPC feedback monitoring activity extends to the value of specific choices. Moreover, once the association between scenes and reward had been learned, FPC neural activity before choice reflected the future animal’s behavior to stay or to switch on their previous behavioral strategy, i.e., to choose the same target or the other one. These results suggest that FPC neurons integrated information for action monitoring and later reprocessed it to decide the best behavioral strategy to adopt, determining whether to maintain or change the action plan.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99019-3Frontal poleArea 10MonkeyRewardExplore-exploitLearning
spellingShingle Lorenzo Ferrucci
Francesco Ceccarelli
Fabrizio Londei
Giulia Arena
Leyla Elyasizad
Simon Nougaret
Aldo Genovesio
Reward monitoring in the frontopolar cortex of macaques
Scientific Reports
Frontal pole
Area 10
Monkey
Reward
Explore-exploit
Learning
title Reward monitoring in the frontopolar cortex of macaques
title_full Reward monitoring in the frontopolar cortex of macaques
title_fullStr Reward monitoring in the frontopolar cortex of macaques
title_full_unstemmed Reward monitoring in the frontopolar cortex of macaques
title_short Reward monitoring in the frontopolar cortex of macaques
title_sort reward monitoring in the frontopolar cortex of macaques
topic Frontal pole
Area 10
Monkey
Reward
Explore-exploit
Learning
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99019-3
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