Orbitofrontal cortex

The human orbitofrontal cortex is one of the least studied brain structures, but there are suggestions that OFC is involved in the mechanisms of reinforcement, decision making and expectations. In particular, OFC probably plays an important role in reporting expected rewards / punishments in certain situations. Based on this, the brain is able to compare expected rewards / punishments with real ones. Thus, the orbitofrontal cortex is the key structure responsible for adaptive learning. All of the above is supported by studies on humans, anthropoid apes, as well as rodents . In fact, the study in humans focused on the neuroimaging of healthy people and the neuropsychological data of patients with some disturbances in the structure of the physical fitness complex. A study by the University of Leipzig suggests that human physical fitness complex is activated during intuitive coordinated judgments ^[4] .

Disruption of any neural connections in the structure of the orbitofrontal cortex can lead to certain cognitive , behavioral and emotional disorders . Studies report that major disorders are associated with impaired regulation of the OFC connections involved in decision-making, regulation of emotions and expectations of encouragement. Comprehensive human neuroimaging showed that a violation of the structural and functional connections of the physical fitness complex with subcortical limbic structures (for example, the amygdala or hippocampus ) correlates with the state of anxiety in adult patients ^[5] .

Another problem associated with OFC is the dependence on psychoactive and narcotic substances , observed in violation of the striato - thalamo- orbitofrontal interaction. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can also be associated with dysfunction of physical education and reward systems, affecting, for example, motivation.

Some dementia may also be associated with impaired connections in the OFC structures. Behavioral changes in frontotemporal dementia are associated with atrophy of gray and white substances involved in interaction with the orbitofrontal cortex. Alzheimer's disease , in the end, can be caused by the already mentioned changes in neural interactions in OFC ^[6] .

There is reason to believe that OFC, along with the adjacent nucleus (nucles accumbens) and amygdala, is involved in the formation of addictions (dependencies). Based on neuroimaging studies , the striato-thalamo-orbitofrontal network is involved in the formation of dependencies; patients who are addicted to narcotic drugs are especially prone to taking them if they have disorders in the striato-thalamo-orbitofrontal network.

With abstinence from cocaine , there is an increased metabolism in the OFC, which is comparable to the feeling of addiction. For comparison, a long-term refusal to take cocaine (up to 3-4 months) leads to OFC activity comparable to that in healthy patients. In the same way, people suffering from alcoholism have the same pattern of KF activity with prolonged abstinence as in healthy patients ^[7] .

The orbitofrontal cortex is anatomically connected with the adjacent nucleus (nucles accumbens), a structure that plays a role in the mechanism that forms a dependence on narcotic substances. OFC receives information from the nucleus accumbens. The limbic structures, such as the amygdala , hippocampus, and cingular gyrus, transmit information to the OFC through mediocre and direct paths. It turns out that OFC is not only a target for the formation of addiction to drugs, but also serves to coordinate information from the limbic system , forming the response of limbic structures to the use of narcotic drugs ^[7] .

Visual Discrimination Test

Testing consists of two components. The first component - “backward training” - is an experiment with two cards offered to subjects, on which pictures A and B are presented. Before the test begins, subjects are introduced to one simple rule: pressing a button when a picture A appears is accompanied by a reward, while while pressing the button in the case of picture B leads to a negative effect. Since this easy rule has been adopted, it has been reversed without informing the subjects. Most healthy patients take this feature into account and press buttons according to the newly established rule, however, interestingly, such retraining is not observed in patients with disorders in the orbitofrontal cortex; they continue to press the buttons responsible for the negative action. An interesting detail is that patients suffering from an illness respond that they understood the rule ^[8] .

The second component of testing is called extinction. The subjects are introduced to the above rule, but now it is changing radically: patients will experience a negative effect (punishment) when both buttons are pressed. The option to not click on them will turn out to be true, but it is difficult for patients with violations in the OFC to resist pressing the button, despite the discomfort experienced.

Endured injuries of the KFC usually contribute to the manifestation of licentious behavior. Examples of such behavior are profuse profanity , hypersexuality , impaired social interactions, a tendency to use narcotic substances (including the use of alcohol and tobacco ), and a decrease in the ability to empathy .