TY - JOUR TI - Inhibitory control of frontal metastability sets the temporal signature of cognition AU - Fontanier, Vincent AU - Sarazin, Matthieu AU - Stoll, Frederic M AU - Delord, Bruno AU - Procyk, Emmanuel A2 - Behrens, Timothy E VL - 11 PY - 2022 DA - 2022/05/30 SP - e63795 C1 - eLife 2022;11:e63795 DO - 10.7554/eLife.63795 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.63795 AB - Cortical dynamics are organized over multiple anatomical and temporal scales. The mechanistic origin of the temporal organization and its contribution to cognition remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate the cause of this organization by studying a specific temporal signature (time constant and latency) of neural activity. In monkey frontal areas, recorded during flexible decisions, temporal signatures display specific area-dependent ranges, as well as anatomical and cell-type distributions. Moreover, temporal signatures are functionally adapted to behaviourally relevant timescales. Fine-grained biophysical network models, constrained to account for experimentally observed temporal signatures, reveal that after-hyperpolarization potassium and inhibitory GABA-B conductances critically determine areas’ specificity. They mechanistically account for temporal signatures by organizing activity into metastable states, with inhibition controlling state stability and transitions. As predicted by models, state durations non-linearly scale with temporal signatures in monkey, matching behavioural timescales. Thus, local inhibitory-controlled metastability constitutes the dynamical core specifying the temporal organization of cognitive functions in frontal areas. KW - inhibition KW - timescale KW - prefrontal cortex KW - recurrent networks KW - cingulate KW - metastable states JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -