Imbalanced Activity in the Orbitofrontal Cortex and Nucleus Accumbens Impairs Behavioral Inhibition.

ABSTRACT: Contemporary models of behavioral regulation maintain that balanced activity between cognitive control areas (prefrontal cortex, PFC) and subcortical reward-related regions (nucleus accumbens, NAC) mediates the selection of appropriate behavioral responses, whereas imbalanced activity (PFC < NAC) results in maladaptive behavior [1-6]. Imbalance can arise from reduced engagement of PFC (via fatigue or stress [7]) or from excessive activity in NAC [8]. Additionally, a concept far less researched is that an imbalance can result from simultaneously low PFC activity and high NAC activity. This occurs during adolescence, when the maturation of PFC lags behind that of NAC and NAC is more functionally active compared to adulthood or pre-adolescence [2, 5, 9, 10]. Accordingly, activity is dispropor

SUBMITTER: Meyer HC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5117684 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature