scholarly journals Unilateral medial frontal cortex lesions cause a cognitive decision-making deficit in rats

2014 ◽  
Vol 40 (12) ◽  
pp. 3757-3765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula L. Croxson ◽  
Mark E. Walton ◽  
Erie D. Boorman ◽  
Matthew F. S. Rushworth ◽  
David M. Bannerman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Frontal Cortex ◽  
Cognitive Decision

scholarly journals Selective prefrontal-amygdala circuit interactions underlie social and nonsocial valuation in rhesus macaques

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maia S. Pujara ◽  
Nicole K. Ciesinski ◽  
Joseph F. Reyelts ◽  
Sarah E.V. Rhodes ◽  
Elisabeth A. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Cognitive Appraisals ◽  
Medial Frontal Cortex ◽  
Orbital Frontal Cortex ◽  
Social Valuation ◽  
Food Value ◽  
Food Retrieval

AbstractLesion studies in macaques suggest dissociable functions of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and medial frontal cortex (MFC), with OFC being essential for goal-directed decision making and MFC supporting social cognition. Bilateral amygdala damage results in impairments in both of these domains. There are extensive reciprocal connections between these prefrontal areas and the amygdala; however, it is not known whether the dissociable roles of OFC and MFC depend on functional interactions with the amygdala. To test this possibility, we compared the performance of male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) with crossed surgical disconnection of the amygdala and either MFC (MFC x AMY, n=4) or OFC (OFC x AMY, n=4) to a group of unoperated controls (CON, n=5). All monkeys were assessed for their performance on two tasks to measure: (1) food-retrieval latencies while viewing videos of social and nonsocial stimuli in a test of social interest, and (2) object choices based on current food value using reinforcer devaluation in a test of goal-directed decision making. Compared to the CON group, the MFC x AMY group, but not the OFC x AMY group, showed significantly reduced food-retrieval latencies while viewing videos of conspecifics, indicating reduced social valuation and/or interest. By contrast, on the devaluation task, group OFC x AMY, but not group MFC x AMY, displayed deficits on object choices following changes in food value. These data indicate that the MFC and OFC must functionally interact with the amygdala to support normative social and nonsocial valuation, respectively.Significance StatementAscribing value to conspecifics (social) vs. objects (nonsocial) may be supported by distinct but overlapping brain networks. Here we test whether two nonoverlapping regions of the prefrontal cortex, the medial frontal cortex and the orbitofrontal cortex, must causally interact with the amygdala to sustain social valuation and goal-directed decision making, respectively. We found that these prefrontal-amygdala circuits are functionally dissociable, lending support for the idea that medial frontal and orbital frontal cortex make independent contributions to cognitive appraisals of the environment. These data provide a neural framework for distinct value assignment processes and may enhance our understanding of the cognitive deficits observed following brain injury or in the development of mental health disorders.

scholarly journals Reducing variability of perceptual decision making with offline theta-burst TMS of dorsal medial frontal cortex

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1689-1696
Author(s):  
Lina Willacker ◽  
Marco Roccato ◽  
Beril Nisa Can ◽  
Marianne Dieterich ◽  
Paul C.J. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Frontal Cortex ◽  
Perceptual Decision Making ◽  
Perceptual Decision ◽  
Theta Burst

scholarly journals Perceptual learning and decision making in human medial frontal cortex

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1005-1005
Author(s):  
M. Grueschow ◽  
T. Kahnt ◽  
O. Speck ◽  
J.-D. Haynes
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Perceptual Learning ◽  
Medial Frontal Cortex

Oscillatory Activity and Phase–Amplitude Coupling in the Human Medial Frontal Cortex during Decision Making

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 390-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael X Cohen ◽  
Christian E. Elger ◽  
Juergen Fell
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Phase Coherence ◽  
Medial Frontal Cortex ◽  
Oscillatory Activity ◽  
Feedback Processing ◽  
Frequency Bands ◽  
Phase Amplitude ◽  
Beta Frequency ◽  
Trial Phase

Electroencephalogram oscillations recorded both within and over the medial frontal cortex have been linked to a range of cognitive functions, including positive and negative feedback processing. Medial frontal oscillatory characteristics during decision making remain largely unknown. Here, we examined oscillatory activity of the human medial frontal cortex recorded while subjects played a competitive decision-making game. Distinct patterns of power and cross-trial phase coherence in multiple frequency bands were observed during different decision-related processes (e.g., feedback anticipation vs. feedback processing). Decision and feedback processing were accompanied by a broadband increase in cross-trial phase coherence at around 220 msec, and dynamic fluctuations in power. Feedback anticipation was accompanied by a shift in the power spectrum from relatively lower (delta and theta) to higher (alpha and beta) power. Power and cross-trial phase coherence were greater following losses compared to wins in theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands, but were greater following wins compared to losses in the delta band. Finally, we found that oscillation power in alpha and beta frequency bands were synchronized with the phase of delta and theta oscillations (“phase–amplitude coupling”). This synchronization differed between losses and wins, suggesting that phase–amplitude coupling might reflect a mechanism of feedback valence coding in the medial frontal cortex. Our findings link medial frontal oscillations to decision making, with relations among activity in different frequency bands suggesting a phase-utilizing coding of feedback valence information.

PW4-1 Medial frontal cortex and decision-making: evidence from primate neuropsychology and neurophysiology

2010 ◽  
Vol 121 ◽  
pp. S87-S88
Author(s):  
S.W. Kennerley ◽  
P.H. Rudebeck ◽  
M.E. Walton ◽  
M.F.S. Rushworth ◽  
J.D. Wallis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Frontal Cortex

scholarly journals Individual differences in perceptual decision making reflect neural variability in medial frontal cortex

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomoki Kurikawa ◽  
Takashi Handa ◽  
Tomoki Fukai
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Individual Difference ◽  
Medial Frontal Cortex ◽  
Perceptual Decision Making ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Decision Making Behavior ◽  
Neural Variability ◽  
Familiar Stimuli

AbstractDecision making obeys common neural mechanisms, but there is considerable variability in individuals’ decision making behavior particularly under uncertainty. How individual differences arise within common decision making brain systems is not known. Here, we explored this question in the medial frontal cortex (MFC) of rats performing a sensory-guided choice task. When rats trained on familiar stimuli were exposed to unfamiliar stimuli, choice responses varied significantly across individuals. We examined how variability in MFC neural processing could mediate this individual difference and constructed a network model to replicate this. Our model suggested that susceptibility of neural trajectories is a crucial determinant of the observed choice variability. The model predicted that trial-by-trial variability of trajectories are correlated with the susceptibility, and hence also correlated with the individual difference. This prediction was confirmed by experiment. Thus, our results suggest that variability in neural dynamics in MFC networks underlies individual differences in decision making.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document