Emotion: Region Level: Prefrontal Cortex

The prefrontal cortex is subdivided into 3 main regions: The orbitofrontal cortex (areas 12,13), the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the frontal eye fields (area 8) (Fuster 1980).

Orbitofrontal Cortex and Emotion

Damages to the orbitofrontal cortex decrease aggresive behaviors in monkeys, and may trigger euphoric and tame behaviors in human.

Rolls (1986) presents the orbitofrontal cortex as a structure involved in the adjustment of previously formed (presumably in the amygdala) stimulus-reinforcement associations, which are at the basis of the characterization of various emotional sates.

Orbitofrontal Cortex: General

The orbitofrontal cortex receives inputs from the mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus, the inferior temporal cortex, and the dopaminergic ventral tegmental area. It projects to the temporal and cingulate cortices, the lateral hypothalamus, the ventral tegmental area and the head of the caudate nucleus.

Editor: Jean-Marc Fellous

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