Inferring Latent Behavioral Strategy from the Representational Geometry of Prefrontal Cortex Activity

Inferring Latent Behavioral Strategy from the Representational Geometry of Prefrontal Cortex Activity | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Inferring Latent Behavioral Strategy from the Representational Geometry of Prefrontal Cortex Activity Camilo Libedinsky, Yichen Qian, Roger Herikstad This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6067421/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Behavioral tasks can be solved employing various strategies. Sometimes, different strategies result in the same observable behavior, making them latent. In this study, we infer the latent behavioral strategy used by monkeys in a working memory updating task by comparing the representational geometry of two prefrontal regions —the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) and the prearcuate cortex (PAC)—with that of recurrent neural network (RNN) models trained to solve the task using different strategies. We found that neural activity patterns in both LPFC and PAC align with only one of the proposed strategies, suggesting that monkeys employ this latent strategy to perform the task. These findings open avenues for investigating the processes that lead to strategy learning and the decision-making mechanisms that determine which strategies are chosen when multiple options are available. Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Cognitive neuroscience/Cognitive control Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Computational neuroscience/Dynamical systems Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6067421","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":423568657,"identity":"60dc49c7-b374-43a6-b598-37ab046a172b","order_by":0,"name":"Camilo Libedinsky","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAzUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJCCAw8YbCAsHqK1JDCkkaiFIYHhMAla+NtPJx5IqDifZ3D+AOODt20M9vIOBLRInMndcCDhzO1igxsJzIZz2xgSNx4goMWAAaglse124oYbDGzSvG0MCYYNhLTwvwVpOZe44fwB9t9ALfaEtUiAbTmQCHQeGzNQC+N8AjoYJG68BfklOXHmjcRmyTnnJBI3ENLC35+7+cOHCrvEvvOHD354U2ZjL0/IYUiAEaRWgsHgAPFaoIAUW0bBKBgFo2BkAABc10dSXz2q9gAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4980-4088","institution":"National University of Singapore","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Camilo","middleName":"","lastName":"Libedinsky","suffix":""},{"id":423568658,"identity":"eff99f40-1057-4587-8d35-2c3613dc17f9","order_by":1,"name":"Yichen Qian","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"National University of Singapore","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yichen","middleName":"","lastName":"Qian","suffix":""},{"id":423568659,"identity":"dd667f3a-94b8-43be-a94d-df078bc885d7","order_by":2,"name":"Roger Herikstad","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The N1 Institute for Health, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Roger","middleName":"","lastName":"Herikstad","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-02-20 00:40:21","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6067421/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6067421/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69380-6","type":"published","date":"2026-02-17T05:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105536146,"identity":"e0183a35-32b0-49f7-abb6-2cecb730e9da","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-27 07:12:15","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1255426,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"QianHerikstadLibedinsky2025.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6067421/v1_covered_dad94a16-a495-49c0-bdea-4d3b984fbec1.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Inferring Latent Behavioral Strategy from the Representational Geometry of Prefrontal Cortex Activity","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6067421/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6067421/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Behavioral tasks can be solved employing various strategies. 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