Neural representation of action symbols in primate frontal cortex (opens in new tab)

A hallmark of intelligence is proficiency in solving new problems, including those that substantially differ from previously seen problems. Problem solving in turn depends on the goal-directed generation of novel ideas and behaviours1, which has been proposed to involve internal representations of discrete units (or symbols) that can be recombined into numerous possible composite representations1–7. Although this view has been influential in cognitive-level explanations of behaviour, definiti...