What the orbitofrontal cortex does not do

• Published in: Nature neuroscience Vol. 18; no. 5; pp. 620 - 627
• Main Authors: Stalnaker, Thomas A, Cooch, Nisha K, Schoenbaum, Geoffrey
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01-05-2015; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/378/1595/2618; 631/378/2649; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Animals; Behavioral Sciences; Biological Techniques; Biomedicine; Brain Mapping; Brain research; Cerebral cortex; Decision Making - physiology; Emotions - physiology; Humans; Hypotheses; Inhibition, Psychological; Judgment - physiology; Learning - physiology; Models, Neurological; Models, Psychological; Neurobiology; Neurosciences; Physiological aspects; Prefrontal Cortex - physiology; Primates; Rats; review-article; Reward; United States > US
• ISSN: 1097-6256; 1546-1726
• DOI: 10.1038/nn.3982

In the last 25 years, explosive interest has implicated the orbitofrontal cortex in nearly every function known to cognitive neuroscience. Yet scientific progress comes as much from questioning existing ideas as proposing new ones. This review discusses major theories of orbitofrontal function and the data that invalidate these ideas.
The number of papers about the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) has grown from 1 per month in 1987 to a current rate of over 50 per month. This publication stream has implicated the OFC in nearly every function known to cognitive neuroscience and in most neuropsychiatric diseases. However, new ideas about OFC function are typically based on limited data sets and often ignore or minimize competing ideas or contradictory findings. Yet true progress in our understanding of an area's function comes as much from invalidating existing ideas as proposing new ones. Here we consider the proposed roles for OFC, critically examining the level of support for these claims and highlighting the data that call them into question.