Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Timing and Consequences on Behavior

Timing and Consequences on Behavior

In operant conditioning, the timing of reinforcement is crucial. For animals like rats and cats, immediate reinforcement (within a few seconds) is much more effective than delayed reinforcement. For example, a food reward for a rat needs to follow within 30 seconds of pressing a bar to be effective.
Humans, however, can respond to delayed reinforcers. We often make decisions between immediate small rewards and delayed larger rewards. This ability to delay gratification is a significant...

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association areas are regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have a specific sensory or motor function. Instead, they integrate and interpret information from various sources to enable higher cognitive processes such as memory, learning, and decision-making. Some key association areas include the following:
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Cross-subject fMRI-to-Image with Visual-cortex 2D Representation and Pre-Training.

IEEE journal of biomedical and health informatics·2026

Same author

Shifts in the brain sex continuum in major depressive disorder: Evidence for a persistent neurobiological marker.

Journal of affective disorders·2026

Same author

The complement C3-microglial axis in depression of Parkinson's disease: from mechanism to therapeutic intervention.

EBioMedicine·2026

Same author

Sex differences in activations to the sight of faces, scenes, body parts and tools in visual and non-visual cortical regions leading to the human hippocampus.

Biology of sex differences·2026

Same author

A hierarchical multi-scale framework for schizophrenia: integrating symptom networks, functional circuits, and molecular pathways.

Molecular psychiatry·2026

Same author

Latent neural architecture organising shared aesthetic evaluations of visual artworks.

Nature communications·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 27, 2025

Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats

Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats

Published on: February 15, 2015

Rapid Rule-Based Reward Reversal and the Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex.

Edmund T Rolls^1,2,3, Deniz Vatansever¹, Yuzhu Li¹

¹Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.

Cerebral Cortex Communications

|July 23, 2021

Summary

Humans can rapidly switch choices after unexpected non-reward, engaging the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex. This brain region

Keywords:

anterior cingulate cortex depression emotion non-reward orbitofrontal cortex reversal reward

More Related Videos

Operant Protocols for Assessing the Cost-benefit Analysis During Reinforced Decision Making by Rodents

Operant Protocols for Assessing the Cost-benefit Analysis During Reinforced Decision Making by Rodents

Published on: September 10, 2018

A Conflict Model of Reward-seeking Behavior in Male Rats

A Conflict Model of Reward-seeking Behavior in Male Rats

Published on: February 20, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Oct 27, 2025

Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats

Operant Procedures for Assessing Behavioral Flexibility in Rats

Published on: February 15, 2015

Operant Protocols for Assessing the Cost-benefit Analysis During Reinforced Decision Making by Rodents

Operant Protocols for Assessing the Cost-benefit Analysis During Reinforced Decision Making by Rodents

Published on: September 10, 2018

A Conflict Model of Reward-seeking Behavior in Male Rats

A Conflict Model of Reward-seeking Behavior in Male Rats

Published on: February 20, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Behavioral Economics

Background:

Behavioral flexibility is crucial for adapting to changing environments.
Primates, including humans, demonstrate the ability to reverse stimulus choices when reward contingencies shift.
Rapid behavioral adaptation is vital for social and emotional functioning.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the neural mechanisms underlying rapid, one-trial behavioral reversal in humans.
To identify the brain regions involved when expected rewards are unexpectedly withheld.
To explore the link between reward-based decision-making and orbitofrontal cortex function.

Main Methods:

A one-trial rule-based Go-NoGo visual discrimination reversal task was employed.
Participants performed the task to earn points, with stimuli delivering varying rewards.
fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) was used to monitor brain activity during reversal trials.

Main Results:

Activation was observed in the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus during reversal trials.
This activation occurred specifically when an expected reward was not obtained.
The findings suggest a role for this neural system in rule-based choice switching following non-reward.

Conclusions:

The right lateral orbitofrontal cortex plays a critical role in rapid, one-trial behavioral adjustments based on reward prediction errors.
This neural mechanism extends beyond model-free reinforcement learning principles.
The identified function is relevant to understanding emotional and social deficits associated with orbitofrontal cortex damage and conditions like depression.