The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) has recently been proposed to function as a cognitive map oftask space: a mental model of the various steps involved in a task. This idea has proven popularbecause it provides a cohesive explanation for a number of disparate findings regarding the OFC’srole in a broad array of tasks. Concurrently, mounting evidence has begun to reveal the functional heterogeneity of OFC subregions, particularly the medial and lateral OFC. How these subregions might uniquely contribute to the OFC’s role as a cognitive map of task space, however, has not been explored. Here we propose that the lateral OFC represents the agent’s initial position within that task map (i.e. initial state), determining which actions are available as a consequence of that position, whereas the medial OFC represents the agent’s desired future position within the task map(i.e. terminal state), influencing which actions are selected to achieve that position. We argue thatthese processes are achieved somewhat independently and somewhat interdependently, and are achieved through similar but non-identical circuitry.
Orbitofrontal Cortex as a Cognitive Map of Task Space