Repository logo
 

Role of the Perigenual Anterior Cingulate and Orbitofrontal Cortex in Contingency Learning in the Marmoset.


Change log

Authors

Jackson, Stacey AW 
Horst, Nicole K 
Pears, Andrew 
Robbins, Trevor W 
Roberts, Angela C 

Abstract

Two learning mechanisms contribute to decision-making: goal-directed actions and the "habit" system, by which action-outcome and stimulus-response associations are formed, respectively. Rodent lesion studies and human neuroimaging have implicated both the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in the neural basis of contingency learning, a critical component of goal-directed actions, though some published findings are conflicting. We sought to reconcile the existing literature by comparing the effects of excitotoxic lesions of the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC), a region of the mPFC, and OFC on contingency learning in the marmoset monkey using a touchscreen-based paradigm, in which the contingent relationship between one of a pair of actions and its outcome was degraded selectively. Both the pgACC and OFC lesion groups were insensitive to the contingency degradation, whereas the control group demonstrated selectively higher performance of the nondegraded action when compared with the degraded action. These findings suggest the pgACC and OFC are both necessary for normal contingency learning and therefore goal-directed behavior.

Description

Keywords

goal-directed action, habit, obsessive-compulsive disorder, prefrontal, primate, Animals, Callithrix, Female, Gyrus Cinguli, Learning, Male, Neuropsychological Tests, Prefrontal Cortex, Quinolinic Acid

Journal Title

Cereb Cortex

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1047-3211
1460-2199

Volume Title

26

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (G1000183)
Medical Research Council (G0901884)
Medical Research Council (G0401411)
Wellcome Trust (104631/Z/14/Z)
Medical Research Council (MR/M023990/1)
Wellcome Trust (093875/Z/10/Z)
Medical Research Council (G0001354)
This research was supported by a Programme Grant [G0901884] from the Medical Research Council UK (MRC) to ACR, and a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award [104631 /Z/14/Z] to TWR. SAWJ was supported by a BCNI-MRC studentship. The authors wish to thank C. H Parkinson and R. Underwood for preparation of the histological material. T.W.R. consults for Cambridge Cognition, Lilly, Lundbeck, Teva, Shire Pharmaceuticals and Merck, Sharp and Dohme. He has received research grants from Lilly, Lundbeck and GSK. The remaining authors have no potential competing financial interests to disclose.