Specificity in the functional architecture of primate prefrontal cortex

Multiple lines of evidence indicate that the performance of complex cognitive processes, such as those involving working memory, depend upon the functional properties of the circuitry of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). In primates, working memory has been proposed to be dependent upon the sustained activity of specific populations of PFC pyramidal cells, with this activity regulated by certain types of GABAergic interneurons. Thus, knowledge of the connectivity between PFC pyramidal cells and interneurons is crucial to the understanding the neural mechanisms that subserve working memory. This paper reviews recent findings that reveal specificity in the spatial organization, synaptic targets and postnatal development of pyramidal cells and interneurons in the primate prefrontal cortex, and considers the relevance of these findings for the neural circuitry that subserves working memory.