Task-related plasticity in the brain is triggered by changes in the behavioral meaning of sounds. We investigated plasticity in ferret dorsolateral frontal cortex (dlFC) during an auditory reversal task to study the neural correlates of proactive interference, i.e., perseveration of previously learned behavioral meanings that are no longer task appropriate. Although the animals learned the task, target recognition decreased after reversals, indicating proactive interference. Frontal cortex

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... nsiveness was consistent with previous findings that dlFC encodes the behavioral meaning of sounds. However, the neural responses observed here were more complex. For example, target responses were strongly enhanced, while responses to non-target tones and noises were weakly enhanced and strongly suppressed, respectively. Moreover, dlFC responsiveness reflected the proactive interference observed in behavior: target responses decreased after reversals, most significantly during incorrect behavioral responses. These findings suggest that the weak representation of behavioral meaning in dlFC may be a neural correlate of proactive interference.