Recent research has suggested that the orbitofrontal cortex is a critical node in determining the economic values of offers presented to a decision-maker. Using an economic decision-making task adapted from primate studies, we found that optogenetic inactivation of orbitofrontal cortex in rats has no effect on economic decision-making during well-experienced decisions.
We then tested whether orbitofrontal cortex might be required when the landscape of the offers has either changed or is experienced for the first time, and we found that inactivation of orbitofrontal cortex disrupted decision-making in these situations.
This finding fits with emerging evidence that the orbitofrontal cortex may be involved in learning state-based models of the environment.
