Nature Neuroscience· 2026Q1
Intracranial recordings in humans reveal differential contributions of medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex to approach–avoidance decision-making
- 2citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Intracranial recordings in humans show distinct medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) activity patterns preceding approach decisions, suggesting a new functional architecture within the OFC for handling approach-avoidance conflicts.
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Key points
- Distinct medial and lateral OFC activity signals were identified prior to approach decisions in humans.
- Medial OFC showed increased activity, while lateral OFC showed decreased activity before approach.
- These signals rapidly alternated between pro-approach and pro-avoidant states.
- The findings suggest a new functional architecture within the human OFC for approach-avoidance decision-making.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract Approach–avoidance refers to the psychological conflict in which deciding to approach a reward also carries potential punishment. The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is proposed to arbitrate approach–avoidance decisions, yet little is known about the real-time computations within OFC during these decisions. We conducted intracranial recordings in humans implanted with stereotactic electroencephalography electrodes in the OFC while they played a gamified approach–avoidance task. Here we identified two anatomically distinct signals within the OFC prior to approach: an increase in activity within the medial compartment and a decrease within the lateral compartment. Prior to decisions, these signals rapidly alternated between discrete pro-approach and pro-avoidant states, thus introducing a new functional architecture within the human OFC during decision-making.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Nature Neuroscience, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Cognitive Neuroscience
Cognitive NeuroscienceNeuroscience