Ono Taketoshi, Nishijo Hisao
Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, CREST, JST, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
Brain Nerve. 2008 Sep;60(9):995-1007.
The limbic system (comprising the amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex) and the prefrontal cortex (the orbital and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices) have been implicated in emotional and behavioral control. Selective lesion studies in rodents suggest that the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala, which is a critical subnucleus within the amygdala, plays a critical role in appetitive instrumental behaviors. On the other hand, the central nucleus of the amygdala directly receives afferents from the lateral nucleus of the amygdala. These 2 nuclei (central and lateral) of the amygdala are implicated in the learning of reflexive behavior (e.g., orienting, startle, and approaching behaviors) and autonomic responses (e.g., heart rate and blood pressure) during pavlovian conditioning. The caudal part of the anterior cingulate cortex (cognitive subdivision) is involved in monitoring and evaluating of the outcome of an indivisual's actions. However, the orbital cortex and the rostral part of the anterior cingulate cortex (affective subdivision) is involved in the biological evaluation of external sensory stimuli and events induced by stimuli originating from sources other than the individual. Based on these functions, the cognitive subdivision of the anterior cingulate cortex contributes to guiding and selecting actions that yield the optimal outcome, while the affective subdivision focuses on external aversive or rewarding stimuli, and guides appetitive or avoidance behaviors toward or away from these external stimuli. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is involved in predicting of the outcome of own action, and the evaluation of the outcome for guiding optimal behaviors is based on its close reciprocal connections with the limbic system. These 4 regions of the brain interact with each other and work complementarily. In the present review, the abovementioned functions of the limbic system and prefrontal cortex in primates are discussed with regard to the findings of previous neurophysiological studies in which neuronal responses in these brain regions were analyzed in monkeys and rats.
边缘系统（由杏仁核和前扣带回皮质组成）和前额叶皮质（眶额和背外侧前额叶皮质）与情绪和行为控制有关。对啮齿动物的选择性损伤研究表明，杏仁核的基底外侧核是杏仁核内的一个关键亚核，在食欲性工具行为中起关键作用。另一方面，杏仁核的中央核直接接受来自杏仁核外侧核的传入纤维。杏仁核的这两个核（中央核和外侧核）与经典条件反射过程中反射行为（如定向、惊吓和接近行为）的学习以及自主反应（如心率和血压）有关。前扣带回皮质的尾部（认知亚区）参与对个体行为结果的监测和评估。然而，眶额皮质和前扣带回皮质的嘴侧部分（情感亚区）参与对外部感觉刺激以及由个体以外来源的刺激所引发事件的生物学评估。基于这些功能，前扣带回皮质的认知亚区有助于指导和选择能产生最佳结果的行为，而情感亚区则专注于外部厌恶或奖励性刺激，并指导朝向或远离这些外部刺激的食欲性或回避行为。背外侧前额叶皮质参与预测自身行为的结果，对结果的评估以指导最佳行为是基于其与边缘系统紧密的相互连接。大脑的这4个区域相互作用并互补工作。在本综述中，将结合先前神经生理学研究的结果来讨论灵长类动物中边缘系统和前额叶皮质的上述功能，在这些研究中分析了猴子和大鼠这些脑区的神经元反应。
