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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 24, 2026

Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats

Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats

Published on: February 15, 2015

Orbitofrontal cortex reflects changes in response-outcome contingencies during probabilistic reversal learning.

L R Amodeo¹, M S McMurray², J D Roitman³

¹Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1007 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 60607, USA.

|March 22, 2016

Summary

Animals adapt behavior by learning from feedback. The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) plays a key role in flexible behavior, with OFC neuron activity changing to reflect reward outcomes during learning and reversal tasks.

Keywords:

cognitive flexibility electrophysiology orbitofrontal cortex probabilistic reversal learning reward

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An Operant Intra-/Extra-dimensional Set-shift Task for Mice

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Published on: January 22, 2016

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Behavioral Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

Flexible behavior is crucial for adapting to changing environments.
The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is implicated in behavioral flexibility and reward-based decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the neural basis of behavioral flexibility in the OFC using a probabilistic reversal learning task in rats.
To examine how OFC neuronal activity changes during the acquisition and reversal of reward-based choices.

Main Methods:

Rats performed a probabilistic reversal learning task with changing reward contingencies.
Single-unit activity of OFC neurons was recorded throughout the task.
Principal component analysis was used to analyze population-level neural activity patterns.

Main Results:

Rats successfully acquired and reversed lever choices, though reversal learning required more sessions.
OFC neuronal activity was modulated by reward outcomes, generally increasing after rewarded choices.
A decrease in OFC responses to reward following incorrect choices correlated with the establishment of new preferences.

Conclusions:

OFC neuronal signaling is involved in adapting behavior to changing reward contingencies.
The findings highlight the role of OFC in flexible, goal-directed behavior under uncertainty.