Reward uncertainty asymmetrically affects information transmission within the monkey fronto-parietal network

A central hypothesis in research on executive function is that controlled information processing is costly and is allocated according to the behavioral benefits it brings. However, while computational theories predict that the benefits of new information depend on prior uncertainty, the cellular effects of uncertainty on the executive network are incompletely understood. Using simultaneous recordings in monkeys, we describe several mechanisms by which the fronto-parietal network reacts to uncertainty. We show that the variance of expected rewards, independently of the value of the rewards, was encoded in single neuron and population spiking activity and local field potential (LFP) oscillations, and, importantly, asymmetrically affected fronto-parietal information transmission (measured through the coherence between spikes and LFPs). Higher uncertainty selectively enhanced information transmission from the parietal to the frontal lobe and suppressed it in the opposite direction, consistent with Bayesian principles that prioritize sensory information according to a decision maker’s prior uncertainty.