How the orbitofrontal cortex contributes to decision making - a view from neuroscience

Abstract

In the present contribution, the various functional interpretations concerning the putative function of the orbital prefrontal cortex are reviewed since this region and adjacent areas are considered the neural substrate of social behavior in general, and decision-making behavior in particular. This literature review revealed different but related interpretations as to the function of the orbital prefrontal cortex (including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC)): the orbital prefrontal areas (a) code the hedonic quality of choice options, (b) are critical for maintaining associative information about expected outcomes in representational memory so that it can be compared and integrated with information about internal states and current goals, (c) serve as a store of implicitly acquired linkages between factual knowledge and bio-regulatory states, including those that constitute feelings and emotions, (d) serve as a detector of potential content that is derived from the critical aspects of the input, that is, the gist information, (e) are crucially involved in the integration of emotional signals in the decision-making process, and (f) may specialize in integrating the external and internal environment. In the last part of this contribution, we try to bring together these varying but related approaches and propose a preliminary working hypothesis with regard to the role of orbital prefrontal areas in decision making.