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Operant Protocols for Assessing the Cost-benefit Analysis During Reinforced Decision Making by Rodents
Published on: September 10, 2018
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Orbitofrontal cortex control of striatum leads economic decision-making
Felicity Gore1,2,3, Melissa Hernandez1,2, Charu Ramakrishnan1,2
1Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Nature Neuroscience
|August 17, 2023
Summary
Neural activity in the ventrolateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and dorsomedial striatum (DMS) is crucial for economic decision-making. Information flows from the OFC to the DMS, guiding accurate choices.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Economics
- Decision-Making Research
Background:
- Animals constantly assess environmental stimuli for decision-making, often with economic principles.
- While specific brain regions are known to be involved, the network mechanisms governing these decisions remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the brain-wide mechanisms underlying economic decision-making.
- To identify the roles of the ventrolateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and dorsomedial striatum (DMS) in economic choices.
Main Methods:
- An economic decision-making task was adapted for use in rats.
- Neural activity in the OFC and DMS was monitored during the task.
- The projection pathway from the OFC to the DMS was specifically examined.
Main Results:
- Neural activity in both the OFC and DMS was essential for economic decision-making.
- Neural patterns in both regions were similar, primarily reflecting spatial aspects of the task.
- OFC neural encoding of choice direction preceded DMS, correlating with accuracy.
- OFC projections to the DMS were critical for appropriate decision-making.
Conclusions:
- Economic decision-making relies on coordinated activity between the OFC and DMS.
- The OFC transmits choice information to the DMS, which is necessary for accurate economic decisions.
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