Working Memory Gates Visual Input to Primate Prefrontal Neurons

Visually guided behavior relies on the integration of sensory input with information held in working memory. Yet it remains unclear how this is accomplished at the level of neural circuits. We studied the direct visual cortical inputs to neurons within a visuomotor area of prefrontal cortex in behaving monkeys. We show that the synaptic efficacy of visual cortical input to prefrontal cortex is gated by information held in working memory. Surprisingly, visual input to prefrontal neurons was found to target those with both visual and motor properties, rather than preferentially targeting other visual neurons. Furthermore, activity evoked from visual cortex was larger in magnitude, more synchronous, and more rapid, when monkeys remembered locations that matched the location of visual input. These results indicate that working memory directly influences the circuitry that transforms visual input into visually guided behavior.