Electrophysiological-neurochemical-behavioral studies of integrative mechanisms of the macaque orbitofrontal cortex using visual category discrimination task

抄録

Orbitofrontal cortex (OBF) plays important role in the organization of adaptive behavior. To characterize these functions, single neuron activity was recorded in rhesus monkey OBF 1) during feeding or sexually motivated visual category discrimination tasks and 2) microiontophoresis of neuroactive substances (e.g. glucose, dopamine). The effect of fasting signals on task performance was also tested. Specific feeding- and sex-related firing rate changes were found. OBF neurons showed wide variety of task or category selectivity. Reward- and expectation-related activities were also recorded. In addition, OBF neurons showed complex chemosensitivity to microiontophoretically administered chemicals. Task performance was improved by the i.m. injected fasting-induced endogenous substance 2-buten-4-olide. Our results revealed that OBF is one of the key centers in the organization of adaptive behavior by integrating endo- and exogenous information both on the neurochemical and cognitive level. Supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S.A.), 21st Century COE Program, NRF and HSC of Hungary (T042721, M036687, ETT 315/ and 317/2006), NKTH-RET 008/2005 MEDIPOLIS and Hungarian Academy of Sciences. [J Physiol Sci. 2008;58 Suppl:S147]