Meta-Analytic Connectivity Modeling Reveals Differential Functional Connectivity of the Medial and Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex

Abstract

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is implicated in a broad range of behaviors and neuropsychiatric disorders. Anatomical tracing studies in nonhuman primates reveal differences in connectivity across subregions of the OFC, but data on the connectivity of the human OFC remain limited. We applied meta-analytic connectivity modeling in order to examine which brain regions are most frequently coactivated with the medial and lateral portions of the OFC in published functional neuroimaging studies. The analysis revealed a clear divergence in the pattern of connectivity for the medial OFC (mOFC) and lateral OFC (lOFC) regions. The lOFC showed coactivations with a network of prefrontal regions and areas involved in cognitive functions including language and memory. In contrast, the mOFC showed connectivity with default mode, autonomic, and limbic regions. Convergent patterns of coactivations were observed in the amygdala, hippocampus, striatum, and thalamus. A small number of regions showed connectivity specific to the anterior or posterior sectors of the OFC. Task domains involving memory, semantic processing, face processing, and reward were additionally analyzed in order to identify the different patterns of OFC functional connectivity associated with specific cognitive and affective processes. These data provide a framework for understanding the human OFC's position within widespread functional networks.

Prefrontal cortical thinning links to negative symptoms in schizophrenia via the ENIGMA consortium

“…In line with our initial hypothesis, the lateral orbitofrontal gyrus is also predominantly involved in value processing (Kringelbach & Rolls, 2004;Zald et al 2014). The pars opercularis is mainly linked to language processing (Belyk & Brown, 2014), which might relate to poverty of speech.…”

Is a neutral expression also a neutral stimulus? A study with functional magnetic resonance

“…Regarding the prefrontal cortex, in contrast to the right lateralized pattern to neutral faces, to facial expressions we located the involvement of medial regions that have a well-established role in emotional processing (Phan et al, 2002;Phillips et al, 2003;Dima et al, 2011). Recently, by means of meta-analytic connectivity modeling, a differentiation has been established between the pattern of functional connectivity for the medial and for the lateral OFC (Zald et al, 2012). Lateral OFC showed coactivations with a network of prefrontal regions and areas involved in cognitive functions we found to be involved in processing neutral faces in this work.…”

“…Regarding the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) activity, it has been suggested to constitute a neural interface linking sensory areas with brain regions implicated in the generation of behavioral responses, such as the above mentioned supplementary motor area. The OFC has been implicated in a broad range of functions including a key role for the active judgment of social signals (Zald et al, 2012). THE OFC has also been attributed a crucial role in the top-down processing of faces regulating the activities of the OFA and the fusiform face area (FFA).…”

Significant grey matter changes in a region of the orbitofrontal cortex in healthy participants predicts emotional dysregulation

“…Both earlier tracing studies on primates including humans (Ongur and Price, 2000) and more modern functional imagingbased connectivity studies in humans (Kahnt et al, 2012;Zald et al, 2014) have indicated a different connectivity dependent on a mediolateral and anterior-posterior division of the Obfcalthough a more complex picture emerges at a finer scale. It has been suggested that this distinction has certain functional consequences (Kringelbach and Rolls, 2004).…”