Prefrontal cortical cell firing during maintenance, extinction, and reinstatement of goal-directed behavior for natural reward

Synapse ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvette M. Peters ◽  
Patricio O'Donnell ◽  
Regina M. Carelli
Keyword(s):  
Cortical Cell ◽  
Natural Reward ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Cell Firing ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior

Insights into Cognitive Disorders in Aging and Mental Illness: Molecular Influences on Circuits of the Prefrontal Cortex

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Arnsten
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Cognitive Disorders ◽  
Dynamic Network ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Sensory Stimulation ◽  
Abstract Thought ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior

The newly evolved prefrontal cortex underlies our highest order cognitivewe functions yet is remarkably vulnerable to dysfunction in most mental disorders. The prefrontal cortex subserves working memory and top-down control, operations that are weakened in both cognitive and affective disorders. Prefrontal microcircuits contain extensive recurrent excitatory connections that allow representation of information in the absence of sensory stimulation, the foundation of abstract thought and goal-directed behavior. Basic research has discovered that the strength of these prefrontal cortical synaptic connections is governed by unique molecular mechanisms, where both neurotransmission and neuromodulation differ from those in classical circuits. These include exceptionally powerful regulation by the arousal systems, which magnify calcium-cAMP signaling to open or close ion channels near the synapse to rapidly alter synaptic strength, a process called Dynamic Network Connectivity. The magnification of intracellular calcium actions renders these synapses particularly vulnerable to degeneration in schizophrenia, aging, and Alzheimer’s disease.

The limbic basal-ganglia-thalamocortical circuit and goal-directed behavior

1999 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 525-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daphna Joel
Keyword(s):  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Motivational State ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Interconnected Model ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior

Depue & Collins's model of incentive-motivational modulation of goal-directed behavior subserved by a medial orbital prefrontal cortical (MOC) network is appealing, but it leaves several questions unanswered: How are the stimuli that elicit an incentive motivational state selected? How does the incentive motivational state created by the MOC network modulate behavior? What is the function of the dopaminergic input to the striatum? This commentary suggests possible answers, based on the open-interconnected model of basal-ganglia-thalamocortical circuits, in which the limbic circuit selects goals and, via its connections with the motor and the associative circuits, directs behavior according to those goals, elaborating on the role of dopamine.

scholarly journals Loss of Prefrontal Cortical Higher Cognition with Uncontrollable Stress: Molecular Mechanisms, Changes with Age, and Relevance to Treatment

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dibyadeep Datta ◽  
Amy Arnsten
Keyword(s):  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Pharmacological Treatments ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Uncontrollable Stress ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Cell Firing ◽  
Increased Susceptibility

The newly evolved prefrontal cortex (PFC) generates goals for “top-down” control of behavior, thought, and emotion. However, these circuits are especially vulnerable to uncontrollable stress, with powerful, intracellular mechanisms that rapidly take the PFC “off-line.” High levels of norepinephrine and dopamine released during stress engage α1-AR and D1R, which activate feedforward calcium-cAMP signaling pathways that open nearby potassium channels to weaken connectivity and reduce PFC cell firing. Sustained weakening with chronic stress leads to atrophy of dendrites and spines. Understanding these signaling events helps to explain the increased susceptibility of the PFC to stress pathology during adolescence, when dopamine expression is increased in the PFC, and with advanced age, when the molecular “brakes” on stress signaling are diminished by loss of phosphodiesterases. These mechanisms have also led to pharmacological treatments for stress-related disorders, including guanfacine treatment of childhood trauma, and prazosin treatment of veterans and civilians with post-traumatic stress disorder.

scholarly journals A Model of Prefrontal Cortical Mechanisms for Goal-directed Behavior

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 1115-1129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael E. Hasselmo
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
Motor Output ◽  
Input State ◽  
Neuronal Responses ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Specific Input ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior ◽  
Selection Of

Many behavioral tasks require goal-directed actions to obtain delayed reward. The prefrontal cortex appears to mediate many aspects of goal-directed decision making. This article presents a model of prefrontal cortex function emphasizing the influence of goal-related activity on the choice of the next motor output. The model can be interpreted in terms of key elements of Reinforcement Learning Theory. Different neocortical minicolumns represent distinct sensory input states and distinct motor output actions. The dynamics of each minicolumn include separate phases of encoding and retrieval. During encoding, strengthening of excitatory connections forms forward and reverse associations between each state, the following action, and a subsequent state, which may include reward. During retrieval, activity spreads from reward states throughout the network. The interaction of this spreading activity with a specific input state directs selection of the next appropriate action. Simulations demonstrate how these mechanisms can guide performance in a range of goal-directed tasks, and provide a functional framework for some of the neuronal responses previously observed in the medial prefrontal cortex during performance of spatial memory tasks in rats.

Development of Prefrontal Cortical Connectivity and the Enduring Effect of Learned Value on Cognitive Control

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliet Y. Davidow ◽  
Margaret A. Sheridan ◽  
Koene R. A. Van Dijk ◽  
Rosario M. Santillana ◽  
Jenna Snyder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Temporal Persistence ◽  
Appetitive Cues ◽  
The Right ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior ◽  
Complex Influence

Inhibitory control, the capacity to suppress an inappropriate response, is a process employed for guiding action selection in the service of goal-directed behavior. Under neutral circumstances, inhibitory control success improves from childhood to adulthood and has been associated with developmental shifts in functional activation and connectivity of the PFC. However, the ability to exercise inhibitory control is challenged in certain contexts by including appetitive cues, a phenomenon that may be particularly pronounced in youths. Here, we examine the magnitude and temporal persistence of learned value's influence on inhibitory control in a cross-sectional sample of 8- to 25-year-olds. Participants first underwent conditioning of a motor approach response to two initially neutral cues, with one cue reinforced with monetary reward and the other with no monetary outcome. Subsequently, during fMRI, participants reencountered these cues as no-go targets in a nonreinforced go/no-go paradigm. Although the influence of learned value increasingly disrupted inhibitory control with increasing age, in young adults this pattern remitted over the course of the task, whereas during adolescence the impairing effect of reward history persisted. Successful no-go performance to the previously rewarded target was related to greater recruitment of the right inferior frontal gyrus and age-related increase in functional connectivity between the inferior frontal gyrus and the ventromedial PFC for the previously rewarded no-go target over the control target. Together, results indicate the complex influence of value on goals over development relies upon the increased coordination of distinct higher-order regions in the PFC.

Executive functions and intelligent goal-directed behavior: A neuropsychological approach to understanding success using professional sales as a real-life measure.

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Pluck ◽  
Cristina Crespo-Andrade ◽  
Patricia Parreño ◽  
Karla I. Haro ◽  
María A. Martínez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functions ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Life Measure ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior ◽  
Professional Sales

Resolving visual and conceptual interference among object concepts requires medial temporal lobe cortex

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle M. Douglas ◽  
Louisa Lok Yee Man ◽  
Rachel N. Newsome ◽  
Haley Park ◽  
Hira M. Aslam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medial Temporal Lobe ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Brain Lesion ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Prefrontal Cortical ◽  
Visual Interference ◽  
Multiple Stimulus ◽  
Feature Overlap ◽  
Visually Based ◽  
High Degree

Semantic features, such as prototypical visual form or function, are often shared across multiple object concepts. How, then, are we able to resolve interference between object concepts that look alike but perform different functions (e.g., hairdryer and gun) or that do similar things but look rather dissimilar (e.g., hairdryer and comb)? We examined this issue in the current neuropsychological single-case study by asking whether perirhinal cortex (PRC) critically enables resolution of interference among object concepts at the level of their conceptually- and visually-based semantic features. We tested three patients with differing lesion profiles using a novel discrimination task involving stimuli for which visual and conceptual similarity were not linked across object concepts. We found that D.A., an individual with a brain lesion that includes PRC, was impaired at discriminating among object concepts when there was a high degree conceptual and visual semantic feature overlap among choices. We replicated this result in a second testing session. Conversely, patients with selective hippocampal or ventromedial prefrontal cortical lesions were unimpaired on this task. Importantly, D.A.’s performance was intact when (i) conceptual and visual interference among object concepts was minimized, and (ii) when the discriminations involved simple stimuli that did not require assessment of multiple stimulus dimensions. These results reveal a novel semantic deficit in a patient with PRC damage, suggesting that this structure represents object concepts in a manner that can be flexibly reshaped to emphasize task relevant semantic features.

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