Representing the dynamics of natural marmoset vocal behaviors in frontal cortex

We tested the respective contributions of primate premotor and prefrontal
cortex to support vocal behavior. We applied a model-based GLM analysis
that better accounts for the inherent variance in natural, continuous
behaviors to characterize the activity of neurons throughout frontal
cortex as freely-moving marmosets engaged in conversational exchanges.
While analyses revealed functional clusters of neural activity related to
the different processes involved in the vocal behavior, these clusters did
not map to subfields of prefrontal or premotor cortex, as has been
observed in more conventional task-based paradigms. Our results suggest a
distributed functional organization for the myriad neural mechanisms
underlying natural social interactions and has implications for our
concepts of the role that frontal cortex plays in governing ethological
behaviors in primates.