Paper on frontal cortex & basal ganglia available

[Randall C. O'Reilly]

The following technical report is now available for downloading:

ftp://grey.colorado.edu/pub/oreilly/papers/frankloughryoreilly00_fcbg_tr.pdf *or*
ftp://grey.colorado.edu/pub/oreilly/papers/frankloughryoreilly00_fcbg_tr.ps

   Interactions Between Frontal Cortex and Basal Ganglia in Working
		    Memory: A Computational Model

       Michael J. Frank, Bryan Loughry, and Randall C. O'Reilly

		       Department of Psychology
		  University of Colorado at Boulder

		      ICS Technical Report 00-01

Abstract:

The frontal cortex and basal ganglia interact via a relatively
well-understood and elaborate system of interconnections. In the
context of motor function, these interconnections can be understood as
disinhibiting or ``releasing the brakes'' on frontal motor action
plans --- the basal ganglia detect appropriate contexts for performing
motor actions, and enable the frontal cortex to execute such actions
at the appropriate time.  We build on this idea in the domain of
working memory through the use of computational neural network models
of this circuit.  In our model, the frontal cortex exhibits robust
active maintenance, while the basal ganglia contribute a selective,
dynamic gating function that enables frontal memory representations to
be rapidly updated in a task-relevant manner.  We apply the model to a
novel version of the continuous performance task (CPT) that requires
subroutine-like selective working memory updating, and compare and
contrast our model with other existing models and theories of frontal
cortex--basal ganglia interactions.

				- Randy

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| Dr. Randall C. O'Reilly   |                                    |
| Assistant Professor       | Phone: (303) 492-0054              |
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