From the, Department of Psychology, (CNS, CMG), University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
The Neurosciences Graduate Program, (CMG), University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2020 Oct;44(10):1952-1964. doi: 10.1111/acer.14441. Epub 2020 Sep 20.
Alcoholism is a persistent worldwide problem associated with long-lasting impairments to decision making processes. Some aspects of dysfunction are thought to reflect alcohol-induced changes to relevant brain areas such as the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). In this review, we will examine how chronic alcohol exposure alters OFC function to potentially contribute to maladaptive decision making, and explore experimental behavioral approaches that may be better suited to test whether alcohol dependence disrupts OFC's function. We argue that although past works suggest impairments in aspects of OFC function, more information may be gained by specifically targeting tasks to the broader function of OFC as put forth by the recent hypothesis of OFC as a "cognitive map" of task space. Overall, we suggest that such a focus could provide a better understanding of how OFC function changes in alcohol dependence, and could inform better assessment tools and treatment options for clinicians working with this population.
酗酒是一个全球性的问题，与决策过程的长期损伤有关。一些功能障碍的方面被认为反映了酒精对相关大脑区域的影响，如眶额皮层（OFC）。在这篇综述中，我们将探讨慢性酒精暴露如何改变 OFC 的功能，以潜在地导致适应不良的决策，并探讨可能更适合测试酒精依赖是否破坏 OFC 功能的实验行为方法。我们认为，尽管过去的研究表明 OFC 功能的某些方面受损，但通过专门针对更广泛的 OFC 功能的任务，可能会获得更多信息，如最近提出的 OFC 作为“任务空间的认知地图”的假设。总的来说，我们认为这种关注可以更好地理解在酒精依赖中 OFC 功能的变化，并为与该人群合作的临床医生提供更好的评估工具和治疗选择。
