Differential Engagement of the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex by Goal-Directed and Habitual Behavior toward Food Pictures in Humans

Wit, Sanne de; Corlett, Philip R.; Aitken, Michael R. F.; Dickinson, Anthony; Fletcher, Paul C.

doi:10.1523/jneurosci.1639-09.2009

Cited by 179 publications

(217 citation statements)

References 53 publications

(66 reference statements)

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“…Moreover, we emphasize that it is likely that the mOFC is concerned with making decisions between goals to pursue rather than between the actions that might be made to pursue such goals. This theory is consistent with the finding that the region is more active when behavior is under the guidance of goal values and responses are not being made in a "habitual" fashion (25). Once the goal value that will guide behavior is selected, the saliency of representations of locations in the environment and of responses that bring the animal's eye or hand to that location are enhanced in the lateral parietal and frontal cortex (26).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Separate value comparison and learning mechanisms in macaque medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex

Noonan

Walton

Behrens

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

323

386

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Uncertainty about the function of orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in guiding decision-making may be a result of its medial (mOFC) and lateral (lOFC) divisions having distinct functions. Here we test the hypothesis that the mOFC is more concerned with reward-guided decision making, in contrast with the lOFC's role in reward-guided learning. Macaques performed three-armed bandit tasks and the effects of selective mOFC lesions were contrasted against lOFC lesions. First, we present analyses that make it possible to measure reward-credit assignment-a crucial component of reward-value learning-independently of the decisions animals make. The mOFC lesions do not lead to impairments in reward-credit assignment that are seen after lOFC lesions. Second, we examined how the reward values of choice options were compared. We present three analyses, one of which examines reward-guided decision making independently of reward-value learning. Lesions of the mOFC, but not the lOFC, disrupted reward-guided decision making. Impairments after mOFC lesions were a function of the multiple option contexts in which decisions were made. Contrary to axiomatic assumptions of decision theory, the mOFC-lesioned animals' value comparisons were no longer independent of irrelevant alternatives.A lthough it is widely agreed that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is important for value-guided behavior (1, 2), the precise nature of its contribution is unclear. On the one hand, neuroimaging experiments suggest its ventromedial aspect is part of the circuit for deciding between options on the basis of their value (3, 4). Moreover De Martino et al. (5) have reported that ventromedial frontal activity is correlated with the degree to which subjects' decisions are rational and uninfluenced by irrelevant features of the context in which they are made. In contrast, other accounts emphasize a role in learning and storage of option values (6).One potential reason for lack of consensus about the OFC may be that there is functional specialization within it, as suggested by the distinct anatomical connections of its ventromedial and lateral divisions (7) The aim of our study was, therefore, to assess evidence of functional specialization within the OFC for value learning and value-guided decision making. The effect of medial OFC (mOFC) lesions was compared with that of lateral OFC (lOFC) lesions in two groups of animals.The investigation of value-guided decision making was based on the premise that a lesion that disrupts part a circuit for deciding and discriminating between choice options of differing value should impair decision making as a function of the proximity of options' values. By analogy, lesions of visual feature-discrimination mechanisms disrupt discrimination as a function of the similarity of the visual features (8). In experiments reported below, macaques were trained to choose between three stimuli associated with differing probabilities of reward. The probabilities of reward, therefore, determined the options' values and the proximity of the best (...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Separate value comparison and learning mechanisms in macaque medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex

Noonan

Walton

Behrens

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

323

386

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“…Similar findings hold in closely related paradigms in humans (Valentin et al, 2007;de Wit et al, 2009;Tricomi et al, 2009;Daw et al, 2011). The shift from early devaluation sensitivity to later devaluation insensitivity can be explained by the statistical properties of model-based and model-free systems, respectively.…”

Section: Motivational Shiftssupporting

confidence: 74%

The role of learning-related dopamine signals in addiction vulnerability

Huys

Tobler

Hasler

et al. 2014

Progress in Brain Research

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Psychostimulants such as methylphenidate (MPH) and antidepressants such as fluoxetine (FLX) are widely used in the treatment of various mental disorders or as cognitive enhancers. These medications are often combined, for example, to treat comorbid disorders. There is a considerable body of evidence from animal models indicating that individually these psychotropic medications can have detrimental effects on the brain and behavior, especially when given during sensitive periods of brain development. However, almost no studies investigate possible interactions between these drugs. This is surprising given that their combined neurochemical effects (enhanced dopamine and serotonin neurotransmission) mimic some effects of illicit drugs such as cocaine and amphetamine. Here, we summarize recent studies in juvenile rats on the molecular effects in the mid-and forebrain and associated behavioral changes, after such combination treatments. Our findings indicate that these combined MPH + FLX treatments can produce similar molecular changes as seen after cocaine exposure while inducing behavioral changes indicative of dysregulated mood and motivation, effects that often endure into adulthood. Tables: 2 References: 254 ABSTRACT Dopaminergic signals play a mathematically precise role in reward-related learning, and variations in dopaminergic signalling have been implicated in vulnerability to addiction. Here, we provide a detailed overview of the relationship between theoretical, mathematical and experimental accounts of phasic dopamine signalling, with implications for the role of learning-related dopamine signalling in addiction and related disorders. We describe the theoretical and behavioural characteristics of model-free learning based on errors in the prediction of reward, including step-by-step explanations of the underlying equations. We then use recent insights from an animal model that highlights individual variation in learning during a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm to describe overlapping aspects of incentive salience attribution and model-free learning. We argue that this provides a computationally coherent account of some features of addiction. CONTENTS

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“…Given the results presented here and taken alongside evidence for the presence of action value signals in caudate (5, 6) and supplementary motor system (12), it is natural to conjecture that both mechanisms may coexist during certain types of choices. In fact, this is proposed in some associative models of goal-directed behavior, which posit that choice can occur over outcomes that then subsequently retrieve actions, or over actions that subsequently retrieve outcomes (36,37).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic choices can be made using only stimulus values

Wunderlich

Rangel

O’Doherty

2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

120

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Decision-making often involves choices between different stimuli, each of which is associated with a different physical action. A growing consensus suggests that the brain makes such decisions by assigning a value to each available option and then comparing them to make a choice. An open question in decision neuroscience is whether the brain computes these choices by comparing the values of stimuli directly in goods space or instead by first assigning values to the associated actions and then making a choice over actions. We used a functional MRI paradigm in which human subjects made choices between different stimuli with and without knowledge of the actions required to obtain the different stimuli. We found neural correlates of the value of the chosen stimulus (a postdecision signal) in ventromedial prefrontal cortex before the actual stimulus-action pairing was revealed. These findings provide support for the hypothesis that the brain is capable of making choices in the space of goods without first transferring values into action space.decision-making | functional MRI | goods space | reinforcement learning | ventromedial prefrontal cortex I magine you are thirsty and walk up to a vending machine that is serving a variety of soft drink beverages. On the machine you see the brand marks of the offered beverages, and because you had previously sampled them, you easily assign values to each drink based on their taste. To get the desired beverage, you press the button that is distinctively associated with the preferred option. This situation exemplifies many of the decisions that humans and animals make in daily life. It is a well-established belief among economists, psychologists, and neuroscientists that the brain solves such choice problems by first computing a value for each alternative and then selecting the one that has the highest value (1-4). Neuroscientists have considered two possible alternative ways for how values might be compared in order to make a choice in these situations.First is the actions-based model, in which choices are embedded in premotor processes of action selection: the values of stimuli are passed as action values to the motor plans required to obtain them, and the decision is then made in action space by comparing action values (5-7). Values are learned through experience and associated with each motor plan, and during choice a single motor act eventually emerges through a winner-takes-all process. Although this action based model of making decisions may seem convoluted, it is in fact the predominant view among many decision neuroscientists who have found value signals in areas of the brain known to be involved in representing and planning movements such as lateral parietal and premotor cortices (8-11). Further evidence for the view that decisions are computed by a comparison between actions comes from the finding of action value signals in several regions of the brain, including the caudate nucleus (5, 6), supplementary motor cortex (12), and action-related value signals in lateral int...

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Differential Engagement of the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex by Goal-Directed and Habitual Behavior toward Food Pictures in Humans

Cited by 179 publications

References 53 publications

Separate value comparison and learning mechanisms in macaque medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex

Separate value comparison and learning mechanisms in macaque medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex

The role of learning-related dopamine signals in addiction vulnerability

Economic choices can be made using only stimulus values

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