Contributions of Lateral and Orbital Frontal Regions to Abstract Rule Acquisition and Reversal in Monkeys

Frontiers in Neuroscience

Giancarlo La Camera²  Barry J. Richmond²  Sebastien Bouret⁴ 

[1] Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, United States;Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States;Program in Neuroscience, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, United States;Team Motivation Brain and Behavior, CNRS/ICM - Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Épinière, Paris, France;

关键词: prefrontal cortex;    abstract concepts;    learning;    behavior;    animal;    decision making;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnins.2018.00165

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The ability to learn and follow abstract rules relies on intact prefrontal regions including the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Here, we investigate the specific roles of these brain regions in learning rules that depend critically on the formation of abstract concepts as opposed to simpler input-output associations. To this aim, we tested monkeys with bilateral removals of either LPFC or OFC on a rapidly learned task requiring the formation of the abstract concept of same vs. different. While monkeys with OFC removals were significantly slower than controls at both acquiring and reversing the concept-based rule, monkeys with LPFC removals were not impaired in acquiring the task, but were significantly slower at rule reversal. Neither group was impaired in the acquisition or reversal of a delayed visual cue-outcome association task without a concept-based rule. These results suggest that OFC is essential for the implementation of a concept-based rule, whereas LPFC seems essential for its modification once established.

【 授权许可】

Unknown