Behavioral flexibility is associated with changes in structure and function distributed across a frontal cortical network in macaques
Male
0301 basic medicine
570
0303 health sciences
Decision making ; Functional magnetic resonance imaging ; Macaque ; Animal performance ; Learning ; Central nervous system ; Magnetic resonance imaging ; Monkeys
Action, intention, and motor control
QH301-705.5
610
Prefrontal Cortex
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
3. Good health
Discrimination Learning
03 medical and health sciences
Adaptation, Psychological
Animals
Macaca
[SDV.NEU]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC]
Female
[SDV.NEU] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC]
Biology (General)
Gray Matter
Research Article
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pbio.3000605
Publication Date:
2020-05-26T17:39:19Z
AUTHORS (17)
ABSTRACT
AbstractOne of the most influential accounts of central orbitofrontal cortex– that it mediates behavioral flexibility – has been challenged by the finding that discrimination reversal in macaques –the classic test of behavioral flexibility –is unaffected when lesions are made by excitotoxin injection rather than aspiration. This suggests the critical brain circuit mediating behavioral flexibility in reversal tasks lies beyond the central orbitofrontal cortex. To determine its identity a group of nine macaques were taught discrimination reversal learning tasks and its impact on grey matter was measured. Magnetic resonance imaging scans were taken before and after learning and compared with scans from two control groups each comprising ten animals. One control group learned similar discrimination tasks but which lacked any reversal component and the other control group engaged in no learning. Grey matter changes were prominent in posterior orbitofrontal cortex/anterior insula but also were found in three other frontal cortical regions: lateral orbitofrontal cortex (12o), cingulate cortex, and lateral prefrontal cortex. In a second analysis, neural activity in posterior orbitofrontal cortex/anterior insula was measured at rest and its pattern of coupling with the other frontal cortical regions was assessed. Activity coupling increased significantly in the reversal learning group in comparison to controls. In a final set of experiments we used similar structural imaging procedures and analyses to demonstrate that aspiration lesion of central orbitofrontal cortex, of the type known to affect discrimination learning, affected structure and activity in the same frontal cortical circuit. The results identify a distributed frontal cortical circuit associated with behavioral flexibility.
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