The sensory nature of mnemonic representation in the primate prefrontal cortex

Constantinidis, Franowicz, Goldman-Rakic · Nature Neuroscience · 2001 · neuroscience · 10.1038/85179 · record Constantinidis2001-the-sensory-nature-of-mnemonic-representatio
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Where this record's text came from. faceted 2026-08 by reading the locally held text (pdftext); every evidence string verified as an exact substring of that text before merging. The two claim relations are borderline against rule 7: the relations themselves are stated explicitly ('In contrast to these results...', 'The present findings are in agreement with...'), but the targets are identified by superscript reference number and task description, not by author name, so I have recorded the target descriptively and flagged it here rather than importing author names from the (forbidden) reference list. Replication status 'contested' is grounded in the paper's own framing of the field: 'The nature of neuronal activity in PFC during working memory tasks, and whether this activity represents a remembered stimulus or preparation for a response has been a matter of debate.' A second usable phenomenon anchor exists in the Discussion opening ('Activity of neurons in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during the delay period of a mnemonic task was modulated by the perceived sensory attributes of remembered stimuli...'). Note the source is pdftext with mirrored OCR junk lines ('m o c . erutan .') interleaved; I quoted only clean body sentences. 2026-08-14 schema-0.3 pass: every quote verified as an exact substring of the staged text and anchored at merge time; concept terms verified present; every edge endpoint an existing node.

How to read this page. The article itself is not reproduced here — this paper is not cleared for redistribution, so what follows is the tag layer alone. The evidence sentences are withheld with the article. The table at the foot lists every tag the record carries; each row names the facet it belongs to, and the whose words column says whether the tag records the paper's own wording or the tagger's sentence about the paper. Every tag links to each other paper in the corpus carrying it. The machine-readable edition of the same thing is the TEI file beside this one, where the tags live in standOff, and the article is at its publisher via the link below. When we have changed our mind. Some entries in the table begin with a word in capitals and the reason for it. EVIDENCE CORRECTED — the finding still stands, but we had quoted the wrong sentence from the paper, and the quotation has been replaced with the right one. RETRACTED — the entry itself was wrong; it stays on the page, marked, with the reason, rather than being deleted. WITHDRAWN AND REPLACED — the entry was wrong, and a corrected version of it appears in the entries below. Each mark carries its own reason, in brackets, because the reasons differ from one entry to the next. An entry we have WITHDRAWN is removed from this page and kept in the record, with its reason. A line reading Audit and a date is a later re-reading of the entry against its whole sentence: DOUBTFUL means it was kept, and the reason says what is loose about it. Quotation marks inside the tagger's sentence. Where a tag is the tagger's own sentence, a phrase in quotation marks inside it is borrowed from the paper — the tagger's wording around it is not. The paper's own sentence is the evidence quote for that row; on this page it is withheld with the article, and the article is at its publisher. Nothing inside quotation marks anywhere on this page is ours: if it is quoted, it is the paper's. Whose words a concept carries. A concept entry records a term the paper itself uses, so the term, the sense given for it, and its evidence are the paper's own words, quoted where the paper fixes them. This is the opposite of a sense entry in the tag table, which is the tagger's sentence about how the paper uses a term. Where a concept entry could not be grounded in the paper's words, the entry says so on its own row.

Other fields define these differently the same word, defined another way in another discipline
working memory 4 fields · area under the ROC curve 2 fields · linear regression 2 fields

Tags on this paper

Every tag the record carries, each linking to every other paper in the corpus that carries it. A tag appears here whether or not its words occur in the article — the spans below are only the ones a sentence in this paper licenses. Of the 5 concept tags on this paper, all 5 are grounded in a quoted sentence.

delay period activity distractor contrast ratio receptive field perceptual memory Dorsolateral PFC runs two superimposed processes - a slowly decaying sensory representation plus a response-preparation signal that ramps toward the saccade - whose sum produces the observed delay activity The motor plan emerges from a network of neurons that keep holding sensory information, rather than from a discrete sensory-to-motor transformation stage in single neurons area under the ROC curve short-term memory trace working memory firing rate percentage of correct saccades saccade metrics t-test paired t-test regression regression analysis linear regression ANOVA two-way ANOVA ROC analysis receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis coefficient of determination p-value electrophysiology

Legend

relation to other work	`claim_relations`	how this paper stands to another: agrees, contradicts, extends, qualifies
claim type	`claim_type`	the shape of the claim: existence, mechanism, method, critique, prediction, null
concept edge	`concept_edges`	an asserted relation between two concepts, with the sentence asserting it
concept	`concepts`	an idea the paper works with, quoted where the paper uses it
content tag	`content_tags`	a finding, definition, quantity, statistic or variable named in the paper
control	`controls`	an experiment run to eliminate a rival explanation
limitation	`limitations`	what the paper says its evidence cannot support
mechanism	`mechanisms`	how the reported effect is said to come about
method	`method`	how the paper produced its evidence
phenomenon	`phenomenon`	the effect or regularity under study
sense	`senses`	a distinct use of a term, quoted where the paper fixes it

The paper

The full text is not reproduced here. This article is not cleared for redistribution, so the page carries the tag layer only. Its evidence sentences are withheld; the grounding status remains with each tag, and the article itself is at https://doi.org/10.1038/85179. The reading view exists for the papers whose licence permits it.

Every tag on this page

claim_relations 2 · claim_type 1 · concept_edges 2 · concepts 5 · content_tags 28 · controls 1 · limitations 5 · mechanisms 2 · method 1 · phenomenon 1 · senses 3

Relations on this page carry a quotation for the claim. Where a relation was separately evidenced — and so tested against the vocabulary for its type — the row says so; none of 2 relations here carry that mark. The rest are the tagger’s reading of the sentence quoted beside them.

facet	tag	field	conf.	whose words
claim_type	existence Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`claim_type`		the paper's words
phenomenon	delay-period activity in primate prefrontal cortex during visual working memory Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`phenomenon`		the paper's words
method	electrophysiology Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: electrophysiology	`method`		the paper's words
mechanisms	mechanisms Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. status: the paper's own words: we propose that also in: Dorsolateral PFC runs two superimposed processes - a slowly decaying sensory representation plus a response-preparation signal that ramps toward the saccade - whose sum produces the observed delay activity	`mechanisms[0]`		the tagger's words
mechanisms	mechanisms Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: The motor plan emerges from a network of neurons that keep holding sensory information, rather than from a discrete sensory-to-motor transformation stage in single neurons	`mechanisms[1]`		the tagger's words
limitations	The task never required luminance itself to be remembered, only the relative comparison Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: any claim that the animals held LUMINANCE in memory: OUR TASK DID NOT EXPLICITLY REQUIRE THE ANIMALS TO REMEMBER THE LUMINANCE OF THE STIMULI; THE SUBJECT NEEDED ONLY TO DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN THEIR RELATIVE DIFFERENCE	`limitations[0]`		the tagger's words
limitations	Not all recorded neurons fitted the sensory account; some reflected only the motor response Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: the sensory account of the population: WE DID OBSERVE SOME NEURONS, PARTICULARLY THOSE WITH STRONG PRE-SACCADIC RESPONSES, THAT ONLY REFLECTED THE ANIMAL'S MOTOR RESPONSE	`limitations[1]`		the tagger's words
limitations	The two results on the same measure hold under opposite spatial conditions. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: any summary of what modulates delay period activity here: it was not significantly modulated by a distractor outside the receptive field when the target was inside, and was significantly dependent on contrast ratio when the distractor appeared inside the receptive field	`limitations[2]`	1.0	the tagger's words
limitations	The inference the whole result rests on is reported by the authors as contested. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: the claim that this delay activity is memory: the authors report the argument	`limitations[3]`	1.0	the tagger's words
limitations	The analysis population was chosen by an explicit decision not to exclude two neuron types. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. what this limits: any population statistic reported here: the authors based the analysis on the entire sample rather than ignoring the contribution of primarily cue and saccade neurons to delay period activity	`limitations[4]`	1.0	the tagger's words
controls	eye-movement parameters as the cause of the contrast-ratio effect Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. eliminates: the reading that the contrast dependence is an artefact of where the animal looked · outcome (stated by the tagger, no quotation): held	`controls[0]`	1.0	the tagger's words
concepts	delay period activity Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: delay period activity	`concepts[0]`		the paper's words
concepts	distractor Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: distractor	`concepts[1]`		the paper's words
concepts	contrast ratio Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: contrast ratio	`concepts[2]`		the paper's words
concepts	receptive field Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: receptive field	`concepts[3]`		the paper's words
concepts	perceptual memory Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: perceptual memory	`concepts[4]`		the paper's words
senses	delay period activity - MODULATED OR NOT DEPENDING ON WHERE THE STIMULI WERE: not significantly modulated by a distractor outside the receptive field while the target was inside, and significantly dependent on contrast ratio when the distractor was inside it; the same measure yields a null and a positive result, and only the spatial condition separates them Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`senses[0]`	1.0	the tagger's words
senses	delay activity as memory - AN INFERENCE THE PAPER REPORTS AS DISPUTED: neurons discharge while a stimulus is held in memory, and it has been argued that temporal correlation does not necessarily imply involvement of that activity in perceptual memory, so the field's central inference is named as contested inside a paper that relies on it Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`senses[1]`	1.0	the tagger's words
senses	the analysed sample - THE WHOLE RECORDING, BY DECISION: rather than dropping neurons whose responses were mainly to the cue or the saccade, the authors state they used the entire sample so as not to ignore those neurons' contribution to delay period activity Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`senses[2]`	1.0	the tagger's words
claim_relations	contradicts → previous studies of delay-period activity in a discrimination task concluding that responses reflect the outcome of a perceptual decision (the paper's refs 18,19) Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`claim_relations[0]`		the tagger's words
claim_relations	builds-on → previous dorsolateral prefrontal experiments using the anti-saccade paradigm, spatial match-to-sample and conditional response tasks (the paper's refs 10,28,29) Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`claim_relations[1]`		the tagger's words
concept_edges	distractor —causes→ delay period activity Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. holds when: when the distractor is outside the receptive field and the target inside it · direction on the measure: no-change · strength of the relation: 1 also in: distractor · delay period activity	`concept_edges[0]`		the tagger's words
concept_edges	contrast ratio —causes→ delay period activity Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. holds when: when the distractor appeared in the receptive field · strength of the relation: 1 also in: contrast ratio · delay period activity	`concept_edges[1]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	t-test Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: t-test	`content_tags.statistics[0]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	regression Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: regression	`content_tags.statistics[1]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	linear regression Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: linear regression	`content_tags.statistics[2]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	ANOVA Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: ANOVA	`content_tags.statistics[3]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	ROC analysis Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: ROC analysis	`content_tags.statistics[4]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	coefficient of determination Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. about this quote: THE QUOTE STOPS WHERE THE PAGE ENDS: the sentence breaks mid-word after 'respec' (for 'respectively') into the page footer and a figure, and it resumes only after them, so the bracket it opened is not closed inside the quote. also in: coefficient of determination	`content_tags.statistics[5]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	p-value Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: p-value	`content_tags.statistics[6]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	Delay-period activity depended significantly on contrast ratio when the distractor appeared in the receptive field. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.findings[0]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	Mnemonic prefrontal activity was directly correlated with the monkeys' psychophysical performance. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.findings[2]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	Neuronal discriminability between target and distractor tracked contrast ratio across the entire delay, not only early in it. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.findings[3]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	Contrary to that account's prediction, responses stayed graded by luminance throughout the delay. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.findings[4]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	The effect was significant for 42% of the neurons (45% and 25% in the two animals). Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.findings[5]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	The contrast effect was significant across the population when the distractor was in the receptive field but not when the target was, as with the fixed delay. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.findings[6]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	Reward expectation cannot explain the pattern, because firing was strongest in the condition of minimum expected reward. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.findings[7]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	area under the ROC curve Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: area under the ROC curve	`content_tags.definitions[0]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	short-term memory trace Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: short-term memory trace	`content_tags.definitions[1]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	working memory Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: working memory	`content_tags.definitions[2]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	contrast ratio Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: contrast ratio	`content_tags.variables[0]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	firing rate Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: firing rate	`content_tags.variables[3]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	percentage of correct saccades Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: percentage of correct saccades	`content_tags.variables[4]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	saccade metrics Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: saccade metrics	`content_tags.variables[5]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	52 — isolated prefrontal neurons analysed in the fixed-delay experiment, from two rhesus monkeys Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.quantities[0]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	75% — behavioural accuracy threshold, reached at a distractor/target contrast ratio of 1-4% Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.quantities[1]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	42% — proportion of neurons with significantly elevated delay activity for a distractor in the receptive field Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.quantities[2]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	24 — additional neurons recorded in the variable-delay control experiment Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.quantities[3]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	–0.037, p < 10–5 — regression slope of normalized delay firing on log contrast ratio when the distractor was in the receptive field Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.quantities[4]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	R2 = 0.99, 0.97 — fit of psychophysical performance to the logarithm of contrast ratio for the two monkeys Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. about this quote: THE QUOTE STOPS WHERE THE PAGE ENDS: the sentence breaks mid-word after 'respec' (for 'respectively') into the page footer and a figure, and it resumes only after them, so the bracket it opened is not closed inside the quote.	`content_tags.quantities[5]`		the tagger's words
content_tags	F66,4284 = 0.57, p > 0.9 — non-significant time-by-contrast interaction in the ANOVA on ROC discrimination probability Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above.	`content_tags.quantities[6]`		the tagger's words

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