From structured knowledge to flexible behaviour: the importance of local prefrontal computations
Abstract
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) transforms what we know about the world into intelligent, adaptive behaviour. Existing theories have traditionally explained this function through cross-circuit interactions, where PFC neurons control sensory-action mappings elsewhere in the brain. However, recent findings reveal a remarkable organisation of neuronal activity that enables flexible computation within the PFC itself. These findings motivate a framework of duplicated and structured representations (DSRs), where the abstract structure of the world is embedded locally in connections between prefrontal neurons encoding conjunctions of action and context. We review an extensive body of empirical findings showing that DSRs explain canonical PFC dependent behaviours as diverse as sequence working memory, planning, and value-guided decisions. In each case, PFC neurons represent multiple actions simultaneously. Structured connectivity between these action representations then guides local network dynamics to infer how behaviour should be organised - simplifying both computation and readout. Taken further, the same logic offers a mechanistic foothold on some of the PFC's most elusive functions, including hierarchical reasoning and social computations. Overall, the DSR framework provides a unified understanding of prefrontal computations and a tractable basis for a new generation of mechanistic research.
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BibTeX
@misc{elgaby2026from,
title = {{From structured knowledge to flexible behaviour: the importance of local prefrontal computations}},
author = {Mohamady El-Gaby and Kris Jensen and Svenja Kuechenhoff and Peter Thomas Doohan and Adam Loyd Harris and Alif Aziz and Arya Bhomick and Daniel Shani and Diksha Gupta and Emily Lewis},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/j75zw_v1},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/j75zw_v1/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - From structured knowledge to flexible behaviour: the importance of local prefrontal computations
AU - Mohamady El-Gaby
AU - Kris Jensen
AU - Svenja Kuechenhoff
AU - Peter Thomas Doohan
AU - Adam Loyd Harris
AU - Alif Aziz
AU - Arya Bhomick
AU - Daniel Shani
AU - Diksha Gupta
AU - Emily Lewis
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/22
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/j75zw_v1
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/j75zw_v1/
AB - The prefrontal cortex (PFC) transforms what we know about the world into intelligent, adaptive behaviour. Existing theories have traditionally explained this function through cross-circuit interactions, where PFC neurons control sensory-action mappings elsewhere in the brain. However, recent findings reveal a remarkable organisation of neuronal activity that enables flexible computation within the PFC itself. These findings motivate a framework of duplicated and structured representations (DSRs), where the abstract structure of the world is embedded locally in connections between prefrontal neurons encoding conjunctions of action and context. We review an extensive body of empirical findings showing that DSRs explain canonical PFC dependent behaviours as diverse as sequence working memory, planning, and value-guided decisions. In each case, PFC neurons represent multiple actions simultaneously. Structured connectivity between these action representations then guides local network dynamics to infer how behaviour should be organised - simplifying both computation and readout. Taken further, the same logic offers a mechanistic foothold on some of the PFC's most elusive functions, including hierarchical reasoning and social computations. Overall, the DSR framework provides a unified understanding of prefrontal computations and a tractable basis for a new generation of mechanistic research.
ER -