Journal
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 30, Issue 25, Pages 8591-8601Publisher
SOC NEUROSCIENCE
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0049-10.2010
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- National Institute of Mental Health
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The value of events that predict future rewards, thereby driving behavior, is sensitive to information arising from external ( environmental) and internal factors. The ventral prefrontal cortex, an anatomically heterogeneous area, has information related to this value. We designed experiments to compare the contribution of two distinct subregions, orbital and ventromedial, of the ventral prefrontal cortex to the encoding of internal and external factors controlling the perceived motivational value. We recorded the activity of single neurons in both regions in monkeys while manipulating internal and external factors that should affect the perceived value of task events. Neurons in both regions encoded the value of task events, with orbitofrontal neurons being more sensitive to external factors such as visual cues and ventromedial neurons being more sensitive to internal factors such as satiety. Thus, the orbitofrontal cortex emphasizes signals for evaluating environment-centered, externally driven motivational processes, whereas ventromedial prefrontal cortex emphasizes signals more suited for subject-centered, internally driven motivational processes.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available