Primate prefrontal cortex is divided into broad subdivisions based on projections from mediodorsal thalamus and other structures. These subdivisions and related posterior cortical areas are proposed to form systems that conduct similar operations on different types of information. Do similar systems exist in rat prefrontal cortex and are there common processing characteristics in different areas? In this panel, we will consider neurophysiological data to address this question. These discussions will take a systems approach, bringing to bear data from within prefrontal cortex and related structures. Geoffrey Schoenbaum will begin the panel by presenting data from orbital areas and ventral agranular insular cortex during odor-guided discrimination training. Seth Ramus will discuss data from the same prefrontal region during odor-guided delayed-non-match performance. Together these studies - using similar cues in different behavioral paradigms - will serve to start our discussion. Although notable differences are evident in prefrontal processing between the two paradigms, similarities suggest that this prefrontal region uses associative information flexibly to guide choice performance. Data will be related to findings in entorhinal cortex and amygdala. Kristin Anstrom will then discuss neural firing in posterior agranular insular cortex. This region is thought to be mainly gustatory, yet cells there are more active to tones that are used to guide responses than to the same tones presented unexpectedly without a response contingency, again suggesting that prefrontal areas are specialized to use cues to guide performance. Finally Gregory Quirk will discuss findings in medial prefrontal cortex during acquisition and extinction of fear conditioning. Lesions in this area impair extinction but not acquisition of conditioned fear, and recording data show that neurons there develop selective responses to conditioned tones not during conditioning but during extinction training, when the rat must modify or manipulate cue representations to guide flexible behavior. These findings will be contrasted with data from amygdala and auditory cortex. Individual presentations will be followed by short question periods, and the panel will conclude with a group discussion to explore commonalities and notable differences in these diverse data sets.