The role of the lateral orbitofrontal cortex in creating cognitive maps

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• The lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC) is traditionally linked to deploying cognitive maps for outcome simulation.
• Emerging evidence suggests the lOFC's role may lie in the creation of these cognitive maps.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether the lOFC is involved in deploying existing cognitive maps or creating new ones.
• To elucidate the specific function of the lOFC in cognitive map formation and behavioral guidance.

Main Methods:

• Utilized outcome-specific devaluation in male rats to assess behavioral inference.
• Employed a high-potency chemogenetic approach to selectively inactivate lOFC principal neurons during learning.
• Analyzed results within a reinforcement learning framework.

Main Results:

• Selective lOFC inactivation during the learning phase disrupted subsequent inference, supporting its role in map creation.
• Unexpectedly, lOFC inactivation led to generalized devaluation, not a complete mapping failure.
• A reinforcement learning model indicated a deficit in credit assignment precision during map construction.

Conclusions:

• The lOFC is essential for the creation of new cognitive maps.
• The lOFC's function involves precise credit assignment during map construction, defining the specificity of cue-outcome associations.
• This specificity is critical for accurate behavioral guidance based on cognitive maps.