Activation of the prefrontal, occipital and parietal cortices during go/no-go discrimination tasks in the monkey as revealed by positron emission tomography

Abstract

The regions of the monkey brain involved in cognito-behavioral tasks were mapped using the H 2 15O positron emission tomography (PET) activation technique. Monkeys performed hand movements in an asymmetrically rewarded go/no-go reaction-time task with discrimination between green (go) and red (no-go) light signals. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured during the go/no-go task and a control task in which only go signals were presented. In the go/no-go task, when compared with the control, a significant increase in rCBF was noted in the following regions: (1) the principal sulci; (2) the anterodorsal frontal pole; (3) the anterior part of the inferior occipital sulcus which appeared to be the V4; and (4) the parieto-occipital region. The increase in the principal sulci may be related to the no-go decision and motor suppression in the area, as interpreted in our previous electrophysiological studies. The present results appear to support electrophysiological observations on visual perception and motor suppression and reflect a mode of their functional integration.