Dataset Information

Contributions of orbitofrontal and lateral prefrontal cortices to economic choice and the good-to-action transformation.

ABSTRACT: Previous work indicates that economic decisions can be made independently of the visuomotor contingencies of the choice task (space of goods). However, the neuronal mechanisms through which the choice outcome (the chosen good) is transformed into a suitable action plan remain poorly understood. Here we show that neurons in lateral prefrontal cortex reflect the early stages of this good-to-action transformation. Monkeys chose between different juices. The experimental design dissociated in space and time the presentation of the offers and the saccade targets associated with them. We recorded from the orbital, ventrolateral, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (OFC, LPFCv, and LPFCd, respectively). Prior to target presentation, neurons in both LPFCv and LPFCd encoded the choice outcome in goods space. After target presentation, they gradually came to encode the location of the targets and the upcoming action plan. Consistent with the anatomical connectivity, all spatial and action-related signals emerged in LPFCv before LPFCd.

SUBMITTER: Cai X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3951647 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Contributions of orbitofrontal and lateral prefrontal cortices to economic choice and the good-to-action transformation.

Cai Xinying X Padoa-Schioppa Camillo C

Neuron 20140213 5

Previous work indicates that economic decisions can be made independently of the visuomotor contingencies of the choice task (space of goods). However, the neuronal mechanisms through which the choice outcome (the chosen good) is transformed into a suitable action plan remain poorly understood. Here we show that neurons in lateral prefrontal cortex reflect the early stages of this good-to-action transformation. Monkeys chose between different juices. The experimental design dissociated in space ...[more]

PMID: 24529981

Similar Datasets

Project description:The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is a key brain region for decision-making, action control and impulsivity. Quite notably, previous research has identified a double dissociation regarding the role of this cortical territory in impulsive choice. While medial orbitofrontal lesions increase preference for a large but delayed reward, lateral orbitofrontal lesions have the opposite effect. However, there are no data regarding this anatomical dissociation in impulsive action. The neurochemical basis of impulsivity is still being elucidated, however, in recent years a role for the endocannabinoids and the related glutamatergic and GABAergic neurotransmitter systems has been suggested. Here, we submitted male Wistar rats to a delay-discounting task (DDT) or a two-choice serial reaction time task (2-CSRTT) and classified them as high impulsive or low impulsive in either task using cluster analysis. We then examined the gene expression of several elements of the endocannabinoid system or different subunits of certain glutamatergic or GABAergic ionotropic receptors (AMPA, NMDA, or GABAA) in the lateral or medial divisions of their orbitofrontal cortices. Our results confirm, at the gene expression level, the dissociation in the participation of the medial, and lateral divisions of the orbitofrontal cortex in impulsivity. While in the 2-CSRTT (inhibitory control) we found that high impulsive animals exhibited lower gene expression levels of the ?1 GABAA receptor subunit in the lateral OFC, no such differences were evident in the medial OFC. When we analyzed DDT performance, we found that high impulsive animals displayed lower levels of CB1 gene expression in the medial but not in the lateral OFC. We propose that GABAergic dynamics in the lateral OFC might contribute to the inhibitory control mechanisms that are altered in impulsive behavior while endocannabinoid receptor gene transcription in the medial OFC may subserve the delay-discounting processes that participate in certain types of impulsiveness.

Dataset Information

Contributions of orbitofrontal and lateral prefrontal cortices to economic choice and the good-to-action transformation.

Publications

Contributions of orbitofrontal and lateral prefrontal cortices to economic choice and the good-to-action transformation.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets