Role of the orbitofrontal cortex in learning of goal-directed action

眶额皮层在学习目标导向行动中的作用

• 批准号: 272613643
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Wolfgang Hauber
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Abteilung Neurobiologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/272613643?language=en
• 关键词: Role; orbitofrontal; cortex; learning; goal

Humans and animals select and perform previously learned actions in adaptive ways to obtain specific goals such as food, a capacity that is essential to survive in an ever-changing environment. A fundamental challenge of neuroscience is to understand the neural basis of decision making processes underlying selection and performance of goal-directed action. For instance, to make adaptive decisions, it is not only vital to retrieve information about learned relationships between actions and their consequences. It is also necessary to evaluate whether the expected value or benefits of an action make it worth tolerating the efforts or costs to obtain it and to analyze current situational factors such as motivational states (e.g. hunger). Thus, actual costs and benefits of the available response options must be weighed before deciding which course of action to choose. Our recent data suggest that the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) is a key component of a neural network that critically supports such processes. However, the specific involvement of the mOFC as well as its interactions with other key components of the underlying neural network is, as yet, largely unknown. In this project, we will combine pharmacological, optogenetic and neural circuit analysis methods to examine the role of the mOFC and pathways linking the mOFC with the nucleus accumbens in rats performing complex cognitive tasks that allow for a detailed analysis of behavioral processes underlying action selection. This research will be complemented by an assessment of molecular markers of neuronal activity in involved brain areas. Our goal is to provide a detailed description of how the mOFC contributes to selection and performance of goal-directed action and highlight functional interactions with the nucleus accumbens, a known key component of the underlying neural network, on a molecular, neural and behavioral level. This research possibly allows important new insights into the exact role of the mOFC in decision making which is still elusive. Our findings could also pave the way for a deeper understanding of impaired decision making and action selection in neuropsychiatric disorders with prefrontal dysfunction such as major depression.

人类和动物以自适应方式选择并执行以前学习的动作，以获得特定目标，例如食物，这对于在不断变化的环境中生存至关重要。神经科学的一个基本挑战是了解目标指导行动的选择和性能的决策过程的神经基础。例如，为了做出自适应决定，检索有关行动及其后果之间学习关系的信息不仅至关重要。还必须评估行动的预期价值或收益是否值得容忍获得它的努力或成本，并分析当前的情境因素，例如动机状态（例如饥饿）。因此，在决定选择哪种行动之前，必须权衡可用响应选项的实际成本和收益。我们最近的数据表明，内侧轨道额皮层（MOFC）是严格支持此类过程的神经网络的关键组成部分。但是，MOFC的特定参与及其与基础神经网络的其他关键组成部分的相互作用是迄今为止尚不清楚。在该项目中，我们将结合药理，光学和神经回路分析方法，以检查MOFC和将MOFC连接起来的途径与伏隔核的作用，以执行复杂的认知任务，从而详细分析了行动选择的行为过程。这项研究将通过对涉及大脑区域的神经元活性的分子标记的评估来补充。我们的目标是提供有关MOFC如何在分子，神经和行为层面上与基础神经网络的已知关键组成部分的功能相互作用的详细描述，并强调与振容器的功能相互作用。这项研究可能使对MOFC在决策中的确切作用的重要新见解仍然难以捉摸。我们的发现还可能为对具有前额外功能障碍（例如严重抑郁症）的神经精神疾病的决策做出和行动选择的不利影响铺平道路。