The Miller Lab

Genovesio et al trained monkeys to judge whether red square or blue circle were farther from a reference point.  Even though information about the previous trial was irrelevant to the current trial, prefrontal cortex neurons conveyed the outcome of the previous trial and other irrelevant information about it.  Information about previous outcomes can often be helpful.  This study shows that this is automatically tracked by the prefrontal cortex even when it is not helpful.