A prefrontal cortex map based on single-neuron activity

The intrinsic organization underlying the central cognitive role of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is poorly understood. We approached organization by profiling the activity and spatial location of >24,000 neurons recorded in awake mice. High-resolution activity maps of the PFC did not align with cytoarchitecturally defined subregions. Instead, spontaneous activity and tuning to choice during a behavioral task were both related to intra-PFC hierarchy, suggesting that connectivity, rather than cytoarchitecture, shapes the PFC's activity landscape. Low-rate, regular spontaneous firing was a hallmark of both the PFC and high hierarchy. Surprisingly, choice tuning was overrepresented in units displaying high spontaneous firing rates, linking connectivity-based hierarchy to distinct functional properties in separate neuronal populations. Our data-driven approach provides a scalable roadmap to explore functional organizations in diverse brain regions and species, opening avenues to obtain an integrated view of activity, structure and function in the brain.