scholarly journals Capturing the temporal evolution of choice across prefrontal cortex

eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence T Hunt ◽  
Timothy EJ Behrens ◽  
Takayuki Hosokawa ◽  
Jonathan D Wallis ◽  
Steven W Kennerley
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Internal State ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Internal States ◽  
Neuroimaging Data ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Human Neuroimaging

Activity in prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been richly described using economic models of choice. Yet such descriptions fail to capture the dynamics of decision formation. Describing dynamic neural processes has proven challenging due to the problem of indexing the internal state of PFC and its trial-by-trial variation. Using primate neurophysiology and human magnetoencephalography, we here recover a single-trial index of PFC internal states from multiple simultaneously recorded PFC subregions. This index can explain the origins of neural representations of economic variables in PFC. It describes the relationship between neural dynamics and behaviour in both human and monkey PFC, directly bridging between human neuroimaging data and underlying neuronal activity. Moreover, it reveals a functionally dissociable interaction between orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and dorsolateral PFC in guiding cost-benefit decisions. We cast our observations in terms of a recurrent neural network model of choice, providing formal links to mechanistic dynamical accounts of decision-making.

scholarly journals Neurobiology of apathy in Alzheimer's disease

2008 ◽  
Vol 66 (2b) ◽  
pp. 436-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrique Cerqueira Guimarães ◽  
Richard Levy ◽  
Antônio Lúcio Teixeira ◽  
Rogério Gomes Beato ◽  
Paulo Caramelli
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Combining Data ◽  
Neuroimaging Data ◽  
Pathophysiological Model

Apathy is considered the most frequent neuropsychiatric disturbance in dementia and its outcome is generally deleterious. Apathy can be related to a dysfunction of the anatomical-system that supports the generation of voluntary actions, namely the prefrontal cortex and/or the prefrontal-subcortical circuits. In Alzheimer's disease, pathological and neuroimaging data indicate that apathy is likely due to a dysfunction of the medial prefrontal cortex. Accordingly, in this review article, we propose a pathophysiological model to explain apathetic behavior in Alzheimer's disease, combining data from neuroimaging, neuropathology and experimental research on the role of orbito-frontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, basal ganglia and dopamine in decision-making neurobiology.

scholarly journals The Fragile Brain: Stress Vulnerability, Negative Affect and GABAergic Neurocircuits in Psychosis

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1170-1183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan F Taylor ◽  
Tyler B Grove ◽  
Vicki L Ellingrod ◽  
Ivy F Tso
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Gamma Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Stress Vulnerability ◽  
Neuroimaging Data ◽  
Cortical Regions ◽  
Persons With Schizophrenia ◽  
Gaba Function

Abstract Persons with schizophrenia exhibit sensitivity to stress and negative affect (NA), both strongly correlated with poor functional outcome. This theoretical review suggests that NA reflects a “fragile brain,” ie, vulnerable to stress, including events not experienced as stressful by healthy individuals. Based on postmortem evidence of altered gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) function in parvalbumin positive interneurons (PVI), animal models of PVI abnormalities and neuroimaging data with GABAergic challenge, it is suggested that GABAergic disruptions weaken cortical regions, which leads to stress vulnerability and excessive NA. Neurocircuits that respond to stressful and salient environmental stimuli, such as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the amygdala, are highly dysregulated in schizophrenia, exhibiting hypo- and hyper-activity. PVI abnormalities in lateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus have been hypothesized to affect cognitive function and positive symptoms, respectively; in the medial frontal cortex (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex), these abnormalities may lead to vulnerability to stress, NA and dysregulation of stress responsive systems. Given that postmortem PVI disruptions have been identified in other conditions, such as bipolar disorder and autism, stress vulnerability may reflect a transdiagnostic dimension of psychopathology.

scholarly journals A Brief Anatomical Sketch of Human Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamil Bhanji ◽  
David Victor Smith ◽  
Mauricio Delgado
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Major Focus ◽  
Functional Interpretation ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
White Matter Connectivity ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Human Neuroimaging

The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is a major focus of investigation in human neuroscience, particularly in studies of emotion, social cognition, and decision making. Although the term vmPFC is widely used, the zone is not precisely defined, and for varied reasons has proven a complicated region to study. A difficulty identifying precise boundaries for the vmPFC comes partly from varied use of the term, sometimes including and sometimes excluding ventral parts of anterior cingulate cortex and medial parts of orbitofrontal cortex. These discrepancies can arise both from the need to refer to distinct sub-regions within a larger area of prefrontal cortex, and from the spatially imprecise nature of research methods such as human neuroimaging and natural lesions. The inexactness of the term is not necessarily an impediment, although the heterogeneity of the region can impact functional interpretation. Here we briefly address research that has helped delineate sub-regions of the human vmPFC, we then discuss patterns of white matter connectivity with other regions of the brain and how they begin to inform functional roles within vmPFC.

scholarly journals Regional activity in the rat anterior cingulate cortex and insula during persistence and quitting in a physical-effort task

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blake S. Porter ◽  
Kunling Li ◽  
Kristin L. Hillman
Keyword(s):  
Anterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Internal State ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Weight Lifting ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Male Rats ◽  
Physical Effort ◽  
Internal States

AbstractAs animals carry out behaviors, particularly costly ones, they must constantly assess whether or not to persist in the behavior or quit. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been shown to assess the value of behaviors and to be especially sensitive to physical effort costs. Complimentary to these functions, the insula is thought to represent the internal state of the animal including factors such as hunger, thirst, and fatigue. Utilizing a novel weight lifting task for rats, we characterized the local field potential (LFP) activity of the ACC and anterior insula (AI) during effort expenditure. In the task male rats are challenged to work for sucrose reward, which costs progressively more effort over time to obtain. Rats are able to quit the task at any point. We found modest shifts in LFP theta (7-9 Hz) activity as the task got progressively more difficult in terms of absolute effort expenditure. However, when the LFP data were analyzed based on the rat’s relative progress towards quitting the task, or performance state, substantial shifts in LFP power in the theta and gamma (55-100 Hz) frequency bands were observed in ACC and AI. Both ACC and AI theta power decreased as the rats got closer to quitting, while ACC and AI gamma power increased. Furthermore, coherency between ACC and AI in the delta (2-4 Hz) range shifted alongside the rat’s performance state. Overall we show that ACC and AI LFP activity changes correlate to the rats’ relative performance state in an effort-based task.Significance StatementAnimals need to assess whether or not a behavior is worth pursuing based on their internal states (e.g., hunger, fatigue) and the costs and benefits of the behavior. However, internal states often change as behaviors are carried out, such as becoming fatigued, necessitating constant reassessment as to whether to continue the behavior or quit. We characterized brain activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and insula, brain regions involved in cost-benefit decision making and internal state representations, respectively, as rats carried out a challenging physical-effort task. Both brain regions showed significant shifts in activity as the rats approached their quitting point. Our study provides one of the first characterizations of neural activity as an animal decides to quit an effortful task.

scholarly journals Treating the lungs via the brain: Mechanisms underpinning improvements in breathlessness with pulmonary rehabilitation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mari Herigstad ◽  
Olivia Faull ◽  
Anja Hayen ◽  
Eleanor Evans ◽  
Maxine F. Hardinge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pulmonary Rehabilitation ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Attention Regulation ◽  
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Psychological Measures ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Neural Processes

ABSTRACTBackgroundBreathlessness in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is often discordant with airway pathophysiology (“over-perception”). Pulmonary rehabilitation has profound effects upon breathlessness, without influencing lung function. Learned associations can influence brain mechanisms of sensory perception. We therefore hypothesised that improvements in breathlessness with pulmonary rehabilitation may be explained by changing neural representations of learned associations, reducing “over-perception”.MethodsIn 31 patients with COPD, we tested how pulmonary rehabilitation altered the relationship between brain activity during learned associations with a word-cue task (using functional magnetic resonance imaging), clinical, and psychological measures of breathlessness.ResultsImprovements in breathlessness and breathlessness-anxiety correlated with reductions in word-cue related activity in the insula and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) (breathlessness), and increased activations in attention regulation and motor networks (breathlessness-anxiety). Greater baseline (pre-rehabilitation) activity in the insula, ACC and prefrontal cortex correlated with the magnitude of improvement in breathlessness and breathlessness anxiety.ConclusionsPulmonary rehabilitation reduces the influence of learned associations upon neural processes that generate breathlessness. Patients with stronger word-cue related activity at baseline benefitted more from pulmonary rehabilitation. These findings highlight the importance of targeting learned associations within treatments for COPD, demonstrating how neuroimaging may contribute to patient stratification and more successful personalised therapy.

scholarly journals Investigation of Model for Initial Phase of Communication

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Takafumi Sakamoto ◽  
Akihito Sudo ◽  
Yugo Takeuchi
Keyword(s):  
Initial Phase ◽  
Internal State ◽  
Spatial Relationship ◽  
Utility Value ◽  
Position Information ◽  
Agent Model ◽  
Random Walker ◽  
Human Interactions ◽  
Internal States ◽  
The Relationship

We propose an agent model that determines its behavior from an internal state and a spatial relationship with a target to generate approaching and avoiding behaviors in encounter scenes. This model is based on the relationship with an opponent rather than with a scenario. The agent moves to increase the utility value obtained from the preferences for both aggressive and passive involvement. We analyzed the behavioral and utterance data of human–human interactions based only on two-dimensional position information by simple-shaped robots. The rate of participants’ behavior following the model was significantly higher than that of a random walker. Based on this result, we estimated the internal state during the interactions from the behavior of the participants and analyzed it. The words uttered by one member of a pair correlated with the internal state estimated from the behavior of the other member of the pair. The frequency of the internal states observed from the participants who were recommended to interact with the partner was different from that observed from the participants who did not receive such recommendations. These results suggest that a model with two preferences can approximate a human’s internal state in encounter scenes.

Age differences in ventromedial prefrontal cortex functional connectivity during socioemotional content processing

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Ryan T. Daley ◽  
Holly J. Bowen ◽  
Eric C. Fields ◽  
Angela Gutchess ◽  
Elizabeth A. Kensinger
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Emotional Content ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Supramarginal Gyrus ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Content Processing

Self-relevance effects are often confounded by the presence of emotional content, rendering it difficult to determine how brain networks functionally connected to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) are affected by the independent contributions of self-relevance and emotion. This difficulty is complicated by age-related changes in functional connectivity between the vmPFC and other default mode network regions, and regions typically associated with externally oriented networks. We asked groups of younger and older adults to imagine placing emotional and neutral objects in their home or a stranger's home. An age-invariant vmPFC cluster showed increased activation for self-relevant and emotional content processing. Functional connectivity analyses revealed age × self-relevance interactions in vmPFC connectivity with the anterior cingulate cortex. There were also age × emotion interactions in vmPFC functional connectivity with the anterior insula, orbitofrontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and supramarginal gyrus. Interactions occurred in regions with the greatest differences between the age groups, as revealed by conjunction analyses. Implications of the findings are discussed.

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