Does the medial orbitofrontal cortex have a role in social valuation?

作者：Noonan M P^*; Sallet J; Rudebeck P H; Buckley M J; Rushworth M F

来源：European Journal of Neuroscience, 2010, 31(12): 2341-2351.

DOI：10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07271.x

• anterior cingulate cortex
• decision making
• emotion
• medial orbitofrontal cortex
• social cognition

It has been claimed that social behaviour changes after lesions of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). However, lesions in humans are rarely restricted to a well defined cortical area. Although vmPFC lesions usually include medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), they typically also affect subgenual and/or perigenual anterior cingulate cortex. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the role of mOFC in social valuation and decision-making. We tested four macaque monkeys prior to and after focal lesions of mOFC. Comparison of the animals' pre- and postoperative performance revealed that, unlike lesions of anterior cingulate gyrus (ACCg), lesions of mOFC did not induce alterations in social valuation. MOFC lesions did, however, induce mild impairments in a probabilistic two-choice decision task, which were not seen after ACCg lesions. In summary, the double dissociation between the patterns of impairment suggest that vmPFC involvement in both decision-making and social valuation may be mediated by distinct subregions centred on mOFC and ACCg respectively.

• 出版日期2010-6