Dissociable representations of decision variables within subdivisions of macaque orbitofrontal and ventrolateral frontal cortex.

Ventral frontal cortex (VFC) is essential for flexible decision-making and is composed of many anatomically defined subdivisions. How neural representations related to decision-making vary or not between these subdivisions is unclear. Here we recorded single neuron activity from eight anatomically distinct subdivisions of VFC while macaques made choices between stimuli based on the probability of receiving different flavored fruit juices. We report that neural representations across these subdivisions were dissociable. Area 12l exhibiting the most integrated representations of decision variables at the level of single neurons. By contrast, activity in area 12o was closely related to reward probability whereas activity in area 11m/l and 13m represented juice flavor. Thus, neural representations are distinct across anatomically separable parts of VFC.