Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Specialisation within the prefrontal cortex: the ventral prefrontal cortex and associative learning.

R E Passingham1, I Toni, M F Rushworth

  • 1Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK. dick.passingham@psy.ox.ac.uk

Experimental Brain Research
|August 10, 2000
PubMed
Summary

The ventral prefrontal cortex is crucial for learning associations between visual cues and responses. This brain region shows increased activity during associative learning tasks and its damage impairs relearning.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Acting, seeing, and conscious awareness.

Neuropsychologia·2017
Same author

Measuring mimicry: general corticospinal facilitation during observation of naturalistic behaviour.

The European journal of neuroscience·2017
Same author

The Müller-Lyer illusion affects visuomotor updating in the dorsal visual stream.

Neuropsychologia·2015
Same author

[Phosphate Intoxication after Application of Enema--a Life-threatening Iatrogenic Complication].

Klinische Padiatrie·2015
Same author

Using action understanding to understand the left inferior parietal cortex in the human brain.

Brain research·2014
Same author

[Venous thromboembolism in adolescents associated with fourth-generation oral contraceptives].

Klinische Padiatrie·2013

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

  • The ventral prefrontal cortex's role in associative learning is not fully understood.
  • Understanding this region's function is key to deciphering complex cognitive processes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the involvement of the ventral prefrontal cortex in visual associative learning.
  • To determine if activity in this area is time-locked to stimuli and responses.

Main Methods:

  • Positron-emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic-resonance imaging (fMRI) were used to study human brain activity.
  • Event-related fMRI examined the temporal relationship between brain activity, stimuli, and motor responses.
  • Lesion studies in monkeys assessed the impact of ventral prefrontal cortex removal on relearning.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Learning visual associative tasks led to increased activity in the ventral prefrontal cortex in humans.
  • Ventral prefrontal cortex activity was time-locked to both visual stimulus presentation and motor response execution.
  • Monkeys with ventral prefrontal cortex lesions showed deficits in relearning visual associative tasks without working memory demands.

Conclusions:

  • The ventral prefrontal cortex is integral to the neural circuitry for forming associations between visual cues and specified actions or choices.
  • This region may represent cues, responses, and outcomes, facilitating associative learning.