Neural Correlates of Strategy Switching in the Macaque Orbital Prefrontal Cortex

The orbital prefrontal cortex (PF) receives inputs from the olfactory, gustatory, somatosensory, visceral, and visual cortex. It is also interconnected with the amygdala which represents the current value of the resources, given the internal state of the animal. The worth of the different foods is compared in a ‘common currency’ of value. The central sector of the orbital prefrontal cortex uses vision to predict the value of the resources. These changes depend on the extent to which the animal has already become satiated on a particular food, and an interaction between the amygdala and the orbital PF cortex supports the ability to choose a new food, rather than the one on which the animal has become satiated. The lateral sector of the orbital PF cortex supports the ability to change behaviour depending on the outcome.

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Dopamine Development in the Mouse Orbital Prefrontal Cortex Is Protracted and Sensitive to Amphetamine in Adolescence

eNeuro ◽

10.1523/eneuro.0372-17.2017 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. ENEURO.0372-17.2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Daniel Hoops ◽

Lauren M. Reynolds ◽

Jose-Maria Restrepo-Lozano ◽

Cecilia Flores

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Orbital Prefrontal Cortex

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Neural Correlates of Theory of Mind Are Preserved in Young Women With Anorexia Nervosa

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2020.568073 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Monica Leslie ◽

Daniel Halls ◽

Jenni Leppanen ◽

Felicity Sedgewick ◽

Katherine Smith ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Anorexia Nervosa ◽

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

Social Interactions ◽

Young Women ◽

Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽

Reliability And Validity ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Neural Activation ◽

Neural Basis

People with anorexia nervosa (AN) commonly exhibit social difficulties, which may be related to problems with understanding the perspectives of others, commonly known as Theory of Mind (ToM) processing. However, there is a dearth of literature investigating the neural basis of these differences in ToM and at what age they emerge. This study aimed to test for differences in the neural correlates of ToM processes in young women with AN, and young women weight-restored (WR) from AN, as compared to healthy control participants (HC). Based on previous findings in AN, we hypothesized that young women with current or prior AN, as compared to HCs, would exhibit a reduced neural response in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the inferior frontal gyrus, and the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) whilst completing a ToM task. We recruited 73 young women with AN, 45 WR young women, and 70 young women without a history of AN to take part in the current study. Whilst undergoing a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan, participants completed the Frith-Happé task, which is a commonly used measure of ToM with demonstrated reliability and validity in adult populations. In this task, participants viewed the movements of triangles, which depicted either action movements, simple interactions, or complex social interactions. Viewing trials with more complex social interactions in the Frith-Happé task was associated with increased brain activation in regions including the right TPJ, the bilateral mPFC, the cerebellum, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. There were no group differences in neural activation in response to the ToM contrast. Overall, these results suggest that the neural basis of spontaneous mentalizing is preserved in most young women with AN.

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Neural correlates of integrated self and social processing

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience ◽

10.1093/scan/nsaa121 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (9) ◽

pp. 941-949

Author(s):

Laura Finlayson-Short ◽

Christopher G Davey ◽

Ben J Harrison

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Processing Condition ◽

Emotional Valence ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Affective Processing ◽

Social Processing ◽

Referential Processing ◽

Core Self

Abstract Self-referential and social processing are often engaged concurrently in naturalistic judgements and elicit activity in overlapping brain regions. We have termed this integrated processing ‘self-other referential processing’ and developed a task to measure its neural correlates. Ninety-eight healthy young people aged 16–25 (M = 21.5 years old, 67% female) completed our novel functional magnetic resonance imaging task. The task had two conditions, an active self-other referential processing condition in which participants rated how much they related to emotional faces and a control condition. Rating relatedness required thinking about oneself (self-referential processing) and drawing a comparison to an imagined other (social processing). Self-other referential processing elicited activity in the default mode network and social cognition system; most notably in the ‘core self’ regions of the medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex. Relatedness and emotional valence directly modulated activity in these core self areas, while emotional valence additionally modulated medial prefrontal cortex activity. This shows the key role of the medial prefrontal cortex in constructing the ‘social-affective self’. This may help to unify disparate models of medial prefrontal cortex function, demonstrating its role in coordinating multiple processes—self-referential, social and affective processing—to allow the self to exist in a complex social world.

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