In a dynamic environment, animals must adjust their action plans to match the behavioral demands. For example, the same sensory stimulus may require different motor responses depending on the context. The mammalian prefrontal cortex is thought to be a central node mediating flexible behavior, however the synaptic and circuit mechanisms remain poorly understood.
In this talk, I will describe our effort to study the neural circuits supporting adaptive decision-making in mice. I will focus on a few experiments examining the role of the secondary motor cortex – a premotor cortical region for the mouse – using head-fixed behavior, two-photon calcium imaging, and inactivation. The results provide insights into the representation of choice-related signals in the frontal cortex, and how they may be used during learning and flexible behavior.