Abstract
This chapter begins by describing the neuronal bases of higher cognitive activity in relation to coding the stimulus' meaning across different sensory modalities. The neuronal bases of motivational operations in primate prefrontal cortex neurons are then described, focusing on post-trial outcome-related and reward expectancy-related neuronal activity observed during task performance. To achieve a goal, several different kinds of information are taken into consideration and integrated. The PFC appears to play the most important role in this process. Therefore, the ways in which different kinds of information interact and are integrated in the PFC for goal-directed behavior are described, focusing on the possible roles of this brain area in the integration between motivational and cognitive information. Finally, functional segregation of the PFC in relation to motivational and cognitive operations is discussed.
