Task structure flexibly shifts working memory formats across cortical circuits

In rats performing auditory delayed-response tasks, working-memory format shifts: egocentric cues engage early sensorimotor transformation and prospective motor planning in M2, while allocentric cues rely on a delayed transformation without M2 choice encoding or delay maintenance.

• Why it matters: Choice-predictive attractor models in thalamocortical circuits may not generalize to goal-cued tasks, where the timing and cortical locus of short-term memory could differ.
• What they did: Rats were trained on egocentric and allocentric auditory delayed-response tasks; electrophysiology and optogenetics tested whether M2 and sensory areas encoded choice or were required during the delay.
• The result: Allocentric performance used auditory cortex to carry a retrospective sensory trace, and M2 was not required for maintenance; simplifying the allocentric task to a single start position rapidly reinstated early transformation and M2 dependence.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.