Dynamic layer-specific processing in the prefrontal cortex during working memory

Abstract

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) is reliably engaged in working memory (WM) and comprises different cytoarchitectonic layers, yet their functional role in human WM is unclear. Here, participants completed a delayed-match-to-sample task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at ultra-high resolution. We examine layer-specific activity to manipulations in WM load and motor response. Superficial layers exhibit a preferential response to WM load during the delay and retrieval periods of a WM task, indicating a lamina-specific activation of the frontoparietal network. Multivariate patterns encoding WM load in the superficial layer dynamically change across the three periods of the task. Last, superficial and deep layers are non-differentially involved in the motor response, challenging earlier findings of a preferential deep layer activation. Taken together, our results provide new insights into the functional laminar circuitry of the dlPFC during WM and support a dynamic account of dlPFC coding. Layer-specific imaging of the human dorsolateral prefrontal cortex reveals distinct laminar responses to working memory load and dynamic coding of working memory trial phases.