OCD as a Failure to Integrate Goal-Directed and Habitual Action Control

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Bradfield ◽  
Richard Morris ◽  
Bernard W. Balleine
Keyword(s):  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Action Selection ◽  
Action Control ◽  
Interactive Process ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
Considerable Research ◽  
Action Initiation

This chapter discusses the considerable research that has identified distinct functional circuits linking frontal cortex with the basal ganglia in the control of goal-directed and habitual actions. OCD is characterized by hyperactivity in a circuit involving some of these regions. Recent accounts of the interaction of goal-directed actions and habits suggest that these control processes interact hierarchically, so one alternative to current theories is that OCD reflects a dysfunction in this interactive process resulting in dysregulated action selection, whether that selection is driven by the outcome itself or by cues predicting the outcome. Importantly, it appears that both sources of action selection depend on the OFC—outcome based retrieval on the medial OFC and cue-related retrieval on the lateral OFC. From this perspective, therefore, hyperactivity of the OFC could produce both elevated outcome retrieval and increased responsiveness to outcomes-related cues, resulting in dysregulated action selection and compulsive action initiation as a consequence.

scholarly journals GOALIATH: a theory of goal-directed behavior

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Hommel
Keyword(s):  
Driving Forces ◽  
Action Selection ◽  
Action Control ◽  
Event File ◽  
Impact Action ◽  
Intentional Actions ◽  
Operational Characteristics ◽  
Different Origins ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior

AbstractCommonsense and theorizing about action control agree in assuming that human behavior is (mainly) driven by goals, but no mechanistic theory of what goals are, where they come from, and how they impact action selection is available. Here I develop such a theory that is based on the assumption that GOALs guide Intentional Actions THrough criteria (GOALIATH). The theory is intended to be minimalist and parsimonious with respect to its assumptions, as transparent and mechanistic as possible, and it is based on representational assumptions provided by the Theory of Event Coding (TEC). It holds that goal-directed behavior is guided by selection criteria that activate and create competition between event files that contain action-effect codes matching one or more of the criteria—a competition that eventually settles into a solution favoring the best-matching event file. The criteria are associated with various sources, including biological drives, acquired needs (e.g., of achievement, power, or affiliation), and short-term, sometimes arbitrary, instructed aims. Action selection is, thus, a compromise that tries to satisfy various criteria related to different driving forces, which are also likely to vary in strength over time. Hence, what looks like goal-directed action emerges from, and represents an attempt to satisfy multiple constraints with different origins, purposes, operational characteristics, and timescales—which among other things does not guarantee a high degree of coherence or rationality of the eventual outcome. GOALIATH calls for a radical break with conventional theorizing about the control of goal-directed behavior, as it among other things questions existing cognitive-control theories and dual-route models of action control.

scholarly journals HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder (HAND) Biomarker Identification: Significance Analysis of Microarrays and Two Persuasive Approaches with Random Forest

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hansapani Rodrigo ◽  
Bryan Martinez ◽  
Roberto De La Garza ◽  
Upal Roy
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Differentially Expressed ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Expression Levels ◽  
Significance Analysis ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Gene Expression Levels

Abstract Background: HIV Associated Neurological Disorders (HAND) is relatively common among people with HIV-1 infection, even those taking combined antiretroviral treatment (cART). Genome-wide screening of transcription regulation in brain tissue helps in identifying substantial abnormalities present in patients’ gene transcripts and to discover possible biomarkers for HAND. This study explores the possibility of identifying differentially expressed (DE) genes, which can serve as potential biomarkers to detect HAND. In this study, we have investigated the gene expression levels of three subject groups with different impairment levels of HAND along with a control group in three distinct brain sectors: white matter, frontal cortex, and basal ganglia. Methods: Linear models with weighted least squares along with Benjamini-Hochberg multiple corrections were used to identify DE genes in each brain region. Genes with an adjusted p-value of less than 0.01 were identified as differentially expressed. Principal component analyses (PCA) were performed to detect any groupings among the subject groups. Significance Analysis of Microarrays (SAM) and random forests (RF) methods with two distinct approaches were used to identify DE genes. Results: A total of 710 genes in basal ganglia, 794 genes in the frontal cortex, and 1481 genes in white matter were screened. The highest proportion of DE genes was observed within the two brain regions, frontal neocortex, and basal ganglia. PCA analyses do not exhibit clear groupings among four subject groups. SAM and RF models reveal the genes, CIRBP, RBM3, GPNMB, ISG15, IFIT6, IFI6, and IFIT3, to have DE genes in the frontal cortex or basal ganglia among the subject groups. The gene, GADD45A, a protein-coding gene whose transcript levels tend to increase with stressful growth arrest conditions, was consistently ranked among the top genes by both RF models within the frontal cortex. Conclusions: Our study contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the gene expression levels of the subject with different severity levels of HAND. Several genes that appear to play critical roles in the inflammatory response have been found, and they have an excellent potential to be used as biomarkers to detect HAND under further investigations.

Is the Concept of Frontal–Subcortical Dementia Relevant to Schizophrenia?

1992 ◽  
Vol 160 (4) ◽  
pp. 442-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos Pantelis ◽  
Thomas R. E. Barnes ◽  
Hazel E. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Brain Imaging ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Clinical Features ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Neuropsychological Deficits ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Imaging Studies ◽  
Subcortical Dementia

A syndrome of subcortical dementia has been described in conditions predominantly affecting the basal ganglia or thalamus, structures that have also been implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. There are similarities between subcortical dementia and the type II syndrome of schizophrenia, in terms of clinical features, pattern of neuropsychological deficits, pathology, biochemistry and data from brain-imaging studies. These similarities raise the possibility that certain schizophrenic symptoms, particularly negative symptoms and disturbance of movement, may reflect subcortical pathology. Neuropsychological deficits of presumed frontal lobe origin have been reported in some schizophrenic subjects. The occurrence of such deficits in a condition in which frontal lobe pathology has not been clearly demonstrated may be explicable in terms of a subcortical deafferentation of the pre-frontal cortex.

Abnormal structural connectivity between the basal ganglia, thalamus, and frontal cortex in patients with disorders of consciousness

Cortex ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 90 ◽  
pp. 71-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling Weng ◽  
Qiuyou Xie ◽  
Ling Zhao ◽  
Ruibin Zhang ◽  
Qing Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Structural Connectivity ◽  
Disorders Of Consciousness

scholarly journals The Subthalamic Nucleus: Unravelling New Roles and Mechanisms in the Control of Action

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tora Bonnevie ◽  
Kareem A. Zaghloul
Keyword(s):  
Deep Brain Stimulation ◽  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Subthalamic Nucleus ◽  
Action Control ◽  
Brain Disorders ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
High Level ◽  
Deep Brain

How do we decide what we do? This is the essence of action control, the process of selecting the most appropriate response among multiple possible choices. Suboptimal action control can involve a failure to initiate or adapt actions, or conversely it can involve making actions impulsively. There has been an increasing focus on the specific role of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in action control. This has been fueled by the clinical relevance of this basal ganglia nucleus as a target for deep brain stimulation (DBS), primarily in Parkinson’s disease but also in obsessive-compulsive disorder. The context of DBS has opened windows to study STN function in ways that link neuroscientific and clinical fields closely together, contributing to an exceptionally high level of two-way translation. In this review, we first outline the role of the STN in both motor and nonmotor action control, and then discuss how these functions might be implemented by neuronal activity in the STN. Gaining a better understanding of these topics will not only provide important insights into the neurophysiology of action control but also the pathophysiological mechanisms relevant for several brain disorders and their therapies.

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