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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Constructing an Olfactometer for Rodent Olfactory Behavior Studies

Constructing an Olfactometer for Rodent Olfactory Behavior Studies

Published on: April 11, 2025

Neural systems underlying decisions about affective odors.

Edmund T Rolls¹, Fabian Grabenhorst, Benjamin A Parris

¹Oxford Centre for Computational Neuroscience, Oxford, UK. via

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

|March 27, 2009

Summary

Brain regions like the medial prefrontal cortex (medial PFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) are crucial for making decisions about affective value, distinct from processing physical stimulus properties.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Decision Science

Background:

Decision-making regarding affective value may follow the representation of reward value.
This process might involve distinct neural substrates compared to decisions about physical stimulus properties like intensity.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the neural correlates of decision-making for affective value versus physical intensity.
To differentiate brain regions involved in making choices versus simply rating stimuli.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study.
Participants decided between two odors based on pleasantness or intensity, or rated them without deciding.
Analysis focused on fMRI signals in medial prefrontal cortex (medial PFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), insula, and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC).

Main Results:

Medial PFC, ACC, and insula showed higher fMRI signals during decision-making compared to ratings.
Affective value decisions correlated with signals in dorsal medial area 10 and agranular insula.
Intensity decisions were linked to activations in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dorsolateral PFC), ventral premotor cortex, and anterior insula.
Mid OFC showed activations related to subjective pleasantness, not decision-making.

Conclusions:

Medial PFC and ACC are implicated in binary outcome decision-making.
Distinct neural pathways support decisions about affective value versus physical intensity.
The OFC provides a continuous representation of affective value.