Chapter 1 How sensory cortex is subdivided in mammals: Implications for studies of prefrontal cortex

1991 ◽  
pp. 3-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon H. Kaas
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Sensory Cortex

The neurobiological platform for moral values

Behaviour ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 151 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 283-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia S. Churchland
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Negative Reinforcement ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Neuroendocrine System ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Psychological States ◽  
Human Brains

What we humans call ethics or morality depends on four interlocking brain processes: (1) caring (supported by the neuroendocrine system, and emerging in the young as a function of parental care); (2) learning local social practices and the ways of others — by positive and negative reinforcement, by imitation, by trial and error, by various kinds of conditioning, and by analogy; (3) recognition of others’ psychological states (goals, feelings etc.); (4) problem-solving in a social context. These four broad capacities are not unique to humans, but are probably uniquely developed in human brains by virtue of the expansion of the prefrontal cortex (this formulation is based on Chapter 1 of my book, Braintrust: What neuroscience tells us about morality).

scholarly journals Value generalization in human avoidance learning

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnes Norbury ◽  
Trevor W. Robbins ◽  
Ben Seymour
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Avoidance Learning ◽  
Anterior Insula ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Sensory Cortex ◽  
Primary Sensory Cortex ◽  
Human Volunteers ◽  
Mediate Generalization

SummaryGeneralization during aversive decision-making allows us to avoid a broad range of potential threats following experience with a limited set of exemplars. However, over-generalization, resulting in excessive and inappropriate avoidance, has been implicated in a variety of psychological disorders. Here, we use reinforcement learning modelling to dissect out different contributions to the generalization of instrumental avoidance in two groups of human volunteers (N=26, N=482). We found that generalization of avoidance could be parsed into perceptual and value-based processes, and further, that value-based generalization could be subdivided into that relating to aversive and neutral feedback - with corresponding circuits including primary sensory cortex, anterior insula, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, respectively. Further, generalization from aversive, but not neutral, feedback was associated with self-reported anxiety and intrusive thoughts. These results reveal a set of distinct mechanisms that mediate generalization in avoidance learning, and show how specific individual differences within them can yield anxiety.

scholarly journals Prefrontal control of visual distraction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua D. Cosman ◽  
Geoffrey F. Woodman ◽  
Jeffrey D. Schall
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Sensory Cortex ◽  
Extrastriate Cortex ◽  
Neural Firing ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Task Irrelevant

SummaryAvoiding distraction by salient irrelevant stimuli is critical to accomplishing daily tasks. Regions of prefrontal cortex control attention by enhancing the representation of task-relevant information in sensory cortex, which can be measured directly in modulation of both single neurons and averaging of the scalp-recorded electroencephalogram [1,2]. However, when irrelevant information is particularly conspicuous, it may distract attention and interfere with the selection of behaviorally relevant information. Many studies have shown that that distraction can be minimized via top-down control [3–5], but the cognitive and neural mechanisms giving rise to this control over distraction remain uncertain and vigorously debated [6–8]. Bridging neurophysiology to electrophysiology, we simultaneously recorded neurons in prefrontal cortex and event-related potentials (ERPs) over extrastriate visual cortex to track the processing of salient distractors during a visual search task. Critically, we observed robust suppression of salient distractor representations in both cortical areas, with suppression arising in prefrontal cortex before being manifest in the ERP signal over extrastriate cortex. Furthermore, only prefrontal neurons that participated in selecting the task-relevant target also showed suppression of the task-irrelevant distractor. This suggests a common prefrontal mechanism for target selection and distractor suppression, with input from prefrontal cortex being responsible for both selecting task-relevant and suppressing task-irrelevant information in sensory cortex. Taken together, our results resolve a long-standing debate over the mechanisms that prevent distraction, and provide the first evidence directly linking suppressed neural firing in prefrontal cortex with surface ERP measures of distractor suppression.

Chapter 1 Involvement of the Prefrontal Cortex in Problem Solving

2009 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hajime Mushiake ◽  
Kazuhiro Sakamoto ◽  
Naohiro Saito ◽  
Toshiro Inui ◽  
Kazuyuki Aihara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Problem Solving

scholarly journals Value generalization in human avoidance learning

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnes Norbury ◽  
Trevor W Robbins ◽  
Ben Seymour
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Avoidance Learning ◽  
Anterior Insula ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Sensory Cortex ◽  
Primary Sensory Cortex ◽  
Human Volunteers ◽  
Mediate Generalization

Generalization during aversive decision-making allows us to avoid a broad range of potential threats following experience with a limited set of exemplars. However, over-generalization, resulting in excessive and inappropriate avoidance, has been implicated in a variety of psychological disorders. Here, we use reinforcement learning modelling to dissect out different contributions to the generalization of instrumental avoidance in two groups of human volunteers (N = 26, N = 482). We found that generalization of avoidance could be parsed into perceptual and value-based processes, and further, that value-based generalization could be subdivided into that relating to aversive and neutral feedback − with corresponding circuits including primary sensory cortex, anterior insula, amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Further, generalization from aversive, but not neutral, feedback was associated with self-reported anxiety and intrusive thoughts. These results reveal a set of distinct mechanisms that mediate generalization in avoidance learning, and show how specific individual differences within them can yield anxiety.

Author response for "Remodeling of projections from ventral hippocampus to prefrontal cortex in Alzheimer's mice"

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Xu ◽  
Munenori Ono ◽  
Tetsufumi Ito ◽  
Osamu Uchiumi ◽  
Furong Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Ventral Hippocampus ◽  
Author Response

Quick Reference: Chapter 1: The Musculoskeletal System: The Hand and Upper Extremity

2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 4-5
Keyword(s):  
Dorsal Column ◽  
Persistent Pain ◽  
Illness Behavior ◽  
Abnormal Illness Behavior ◽  
Organ Systems ◽  
Spinal Cord Dorsal ◽  
Objective Basis ◽  
Dorsal Column Stimulation ◽  
Underlying Pathology

Abstract Spinal cord (dorsal column) stimulation (SCS) and intraspinal opioids (ISO) are treatments for patients in whom abnormal illness behavior is absent but who have an objective basis for severe, persistent pain that has not been adequately relieved by other interventions. Usually, physicians prescribe these treatments in cancer pain or noncancer-related neuropathic pain settings. A survey of academic centers showed that 87% of responding centers use SCS and 84% use ISO. These treatments are performed frequently in nonacademic settings, so evaluators likely will encounter patients who were treated with SCS and ISO. Does SCS or ISO change the impairment associated with the underlying conditions for which these treatments are performed? Although the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides) does not specifically address this question, the answer follows directly from the principles on which the AMA Guides impairment rating methodology is based. Specifically, “the impairment percents shown in the chapters that consider the various organ systems make allowance for the pain that may accompany the impairing condition.” Thus, impairment is neither increased due to persistent pain nor is it decreased in the absence of pain. In summary, in the absence of complications, the evaluator should rate the underlying pathology or injury without making an adjustment in the impairment for SCS or ISO.

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