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BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE

Anatomical specialties for value information

Nature Neuroscience volume 22, pages 685–686 (2019)Cite this article

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The ventrolateral and medial orbitofrontal cortices are involved in selecting actions based on the value of expected outcomes. Malvaez and colleagues reveal that these brain regions are specialized in value encoding (ventrolateral orbitofrontal cortices) versus value memory retrieval (medial orbitofrontal cortices) and that they interact with the basolateral amygdala to orchestrate goal-oriented reward-seeking.

Selecting actions based on expected outcomes is a fundamental aspect of daily life. For instance, we might go to the movies, expecting a gratifying diversion. Rarely are the consequences of our behaviors laid out in front of us like options at an ice-cream parlor, however. Rather, we must choose the best course(s) of action based on available information. Are the actors compelling? Is the topic engaging? Are we in need of an escape from reality? In short, we select actions based on multiple variables, but key among them is the prospective value of an outcome. The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) appears necessary for updating and solidifying information regarding outcome value (see refs. 1,2,3,4 and others). Nevertheless, key questions remain: how does the OFC encode and retrieve information about reward value? Are these processes separable? Particularly given that the OFC is a rather large structure intimately connected with sensory and limbic regions, might its anatomically distinct subregions have specialized functions?

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Fig. 1: Anatomical segregation of value information.

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  1. Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, Emory University School of Medicine, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Shannon L. Gourley

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  1. Shannon L. Gourley
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Correspondence to Shannon L. Gourley.

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Gourley, S.L. Anatomical specialties for value information. Nat Neurosci 22, 685–686 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-019-0387-2

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