The rodent lateral orbitofrontal cortex as an arbitrator selecting between model-based and model-free learning systems.
Our understanding of orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) function has progressed remarkably over the past decades in part due to theoretical advances in associative and reinforcement learning theories. These theoretical accounts of OFC function have implicated the region in progressively more psychologically refined processes from the value and sensory-specific properties of expected outcomes to the representation and inference over latent state representations in cognitive maps of task space. While these accounts have been successful at modeling many of the effects of causal manipulation of OFC function in both rodents and primate...
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience - May 31, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research
The case against economic values in the orbitofrontal cortex (or anywhere else in the brain).
Much of traditional neuroeconomics proceeds from the hypothesis that value is reified in the brain, that is, that there are neurons or brain regions whose responses serve the discrete purpose of encoding value. This hypothesis is supported by the finding that the activity of many neurons covaries with subjective value as estimated in specific tasks, and has led to the idea that the primary function of the orbitofrontal cortex is to compute and signal economic value. Here we consider an alternative: That economic value, in the cardinal, common-currency sense, is not represented in the brain and used for choice by default. T...
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience - May 31, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research
Does disrupting the orbitofrontal cortex alter sensitivity to punishment? A potential mechanism of compulsivity.
Abnormal orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) activity is one of the most common findings from neuroimaging studies of individuals with compulsive disorders such as substance use disorder and obsessive–compulsive disorder. The nature of this abnormality is complex, however, with some studies reporting the OFC to be over-active in compulsive individuals relative to controls, whereas other studies report it being under-active, and a further set of studies reporting OFC abnormality in both directions within the same individuals. The OFC has been implicated in a broad range of cognitive processes such as decision-making and goal-direc...
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience - May 31, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research
Defining an orbitofrontal compass: Functional and anatomical heterogeneity across anterior–posterior and medial–lateral axes.
The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) plays a critical role in the flexible control of behaviors and has been the focus of increasing research interest. However, there have been a number of controversies around the exact theoretical role of the OFC. One potential source of these issues is the comparison of evidence from different studies, particularly across species, which focus on different specific sub-regions within the OFC. Furthermore, there is emerging evidence that there may be functional diversity across the OFC which may account for these theoretical differences. Therefore, in this review we consider evidence supporting ...
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience - May 31, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research
The orbitofrontal cortex in temporal cognition.
One of the most important factors in decision-making is estimating the value of available options. Subregions of the prefrontal cortex, including the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), have been deemed essential for this process. Value computations require a complex integration across numerous dimensions, including, reward magnitude, effort, internal state, and time. The importance of the temporal dimension is well illustrated by temporal discounting tasks, in which subjects select between smaller–sooner versus larger–later rewards. The specific role of OFC in telling time and integrating temporal information into decision-ma...
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience - May 31, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research
Dopamine and noradrenaline modulation of goal-directed behavior in orbital and medial prefrontal cortex: Toward a division of labor?
The prefrontal cortex is considered to be at the core of goal-directed behaviors. Notably, the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is known to play an important role in learning action–outcome (A-O) associations, as well as in detecting changes in this contingency. Previous studies have also highlighted a specific engagement of the dopaminergic pathway innervating the mPFC in adapting to changes in action causality. While previous research on goal-directed actions has primarily focused on the mPFC region, recent findings have revealed a distinct and specific role of the ventral and lateral orbitofrontal cortex (vlOFC). Indee...
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience - May 31, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research
Unlocking the reinforcement-learning circuits of the orbitofrontal cortex.
We describe how combining translationally analogous behavioral paradigms with reinforcement-learning algorithms and sophisticated neuroscience techniques in animals can provide critical insights into OFC pathology in biobehavioral disorders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: Behavioral Neuroscience)
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience - May 31, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research
Cross-species studies on orbitofrontal control of inference-based behavior.
Many decisions are guided by expectations about their outcomes. These expectations can arise from two fundamentally different sources: from direct experience with outcomes and the events and actions that precede them or from mental simulations and inferences when direct experience is missing. Here we discuss four elegant tasks from animal learning theory (devaluation, sensory preconditioning, Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer, and Pavlovian overexpectation) and how they can be used to isolate behavior that is based on such mental simulations from behavior that can be based solely on experience. We then review findings fro...
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience - May 31, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research
The magical orbitofrontal cortex.
This special issue, commissioned after the 4th Quadrennial Meeting on Orbitofrontal Cortex Function held in Paris in November of 2019 (https://ofc2019.sciencesconf.org/), is intended to provide a snapshot of this ongoing transformation; we hope that the ideas presented herein will provide a foundation for the next stage in the evolution of our understanding of this magical brain region. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: Behavioral Neuroscience)
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience - May 31, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research
Dreadds: Use and application in behavioral neuroscience.
Technological advances over the last decade are changing the face of behavioral neuroscience research. Here we review recent work on the use of one such transformative tool in behavioral neuroscience research, chemogenetics (or Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs, DREADDS). As transformative technologies such as DREADDs are introduced, applied, and refined, their utility in addressing complex questions about behavior and cognition becomes clear and exciting. In the behavioral neuroscience field, remarkable new findings now regularly appear as a result of the ability to monitor and intervene in neural...
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience - May 31, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research
On the resilience of reward cues attentional salience to reward devaluation, time, incentive learning, and contingency remapping.
Previous evidence has shown that after conditioning reward cues may continue to grab attention even when the paired reward is devalued, thus triggering an irrational attentional capture. Here, we investigated whether such persistent cue attentional salience, once established, can be abolished. In Experiment 1, we first confirmed that the cue attentional salience outlasted reward devaluation, and then we found that such persistent capture did not change after an incentive-learning procedure with a devalued reward. In Experiment 2, we showed that the reward cue salience remained unaltered after reward devaluation for at leas...
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience - April 29, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research
Stimulation of melanocortin-3 receptors accelerates the satiation process and increases the α-MSH expression in high-fat diet-fed rats.
The knowledge about the role of MC3 receptors (MC3r) in the regulation of feeding behavior is limited. The present study was conducted to determine whether MC3r mediates the hypophagic effects of the melanocortins under conditions of positive energy balance. Male Wistar rats were fed with a high-fat diet (HFD) for 15 days and on day 16 the animals received an intracerebroventricular injection of the following treatments: Vehicle, D-Trp8-γ-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH; MC3r agonist), SHU9119 (MC3r/MC4r antagonist), or D-Trp8-γ-MSH+SHU9119. Food intake was measured and the behavioral satiety sequence (BSS) analysis ...
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience - April 26, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research
Hippocampal volume varies with acute posttraumatic stress symptoms following medical trauma.
The hippocampus and amygdala play an important role in the pathophysiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In fact, chronic PTSD has been consistently linked to reductions in hippocampal and amygdala volume. However, the acute impact posttraumatic stress has on the volume of these brain regions has received limited attention. Determining the acute impact posttraumatic stress has on brain volume may improve our understanding of the development of PTSD. Therefore, the present study recruited participants acutely (i.e., ∼1-month posttrauma) following trauma exposure and examined the relationship between brain volum...
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience - April 15, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research
Time or place? Dissociation between object-in-place and relative recency in young APPswe/PS1dE9 mice.
This study tests the predictions of a novel analysis of recognition memory based on a theory of associative learning, according to which recognition comprises two independent underlying processes, one relying on the to-be-recognized item having been experienced recently (self-generated priming), and the other on it being predicted by some other stimulus (retrieval-generated priming). A single experiment examined recognition performance in the amyloid precursor protein (APP)swe/PS1dE9 (APP/PS1) mouse, a double-transgenic model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and wild type (WT) littermates. Performance on two variants of the ...
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience - April 15, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research
Housing experience affects adult neurogenesis in turtles (Chrysemys picta).
Adult neurogenesis increases in mammals when they are exposed to an enriched environment or given the opportunity to exercise. In this experiment, we investigated whether turtles would show differences in the number of new neurons in the telencephalon when they were exposed to deep water, conspecifics, and plants and logs (EE group), compared to a group of animals housed in individual cages with shallow water (IN group). A control group (EX) was given deep water and conspecifics but no plants and logs. We gave nine injections of BrdU over a 3-week period, starting when the turtles were introduced to the housing. The result...
Source: Behavioral Neuroscience - April 15, 2021 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research
