Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy.
Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy.
Cortex. 2021 Apr;137:124-137. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.01.004. Epub 2021 Jan 28.
Environmental cues may anticipate the availability of rewards, thus acting as a guide towards a specific choice (i.e., cue-guided choices). Despite the lateral prefrontal cortex having a critical role in using past learning and flexibly selecting relevant information to guide behavior, the literature on the neural basis of human cue-guided choice mainly focused on the subcortical brain structures implicated, while the specific role of cortical areas remained unclear. The present study aimed to provide causal evidence for the involvement of the lateral prefrontal cortex in two forms of human cue-guided choice, namely outcome-specific and general. To do this, 2 mA cathodal, anodal or sham transcranial direct current stimulation was applied over the lateral prefrontal cortex (with the posterior parietal cortex serving as control region) in three separate groups performing a Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer task. Results showed, for the first time, a dissociation in the cortical structures involved in human cue-guided choice. Cathodal stimulation of the lateral prefrontal cortex reduced the outcome-specific transfer. In striking contrast, there was no influence on the general transfer. These results argue in favor of the presence of at least two possible neural pathways underlying cue-guided choices.
环境线索可能预示着奖励的出现，从而成为特定选择的指南（即线索引导的选择）。尽管外侧前额叶皮层在利用过去的学习和灵活选择相关信息来指导行为方面起着关键作用，但关于人类线索引导选择的神经基础的文献主要集中在涉及的皮质下脑结构上，而皮质区域的具体作用仍不清楚。本研究旨在为外侧前额叶皮层参与两种形式的人类线索引导选择（即特定结果和一般）提供因果证据。为此，在三组分别进行巴甫洛夫到工具性转移任务的参与者中，在外侧前额叶皮层（以顶后皮质作为对照区域）施加 2 mA 阴极、阳极或假经颅直流电刺激。结果首次表明，人类线索引导选择所涉及的皮质结构存在差异。外侧前额叶皮层的阴极刺激减少了特定结果的转移。相比之下，对一般转移没有影响。这些结果支持了至少存在两种可能的神经通路来解释线索引导选择的存在。
