LAUSR.org creates dashboard-style pages of related content for over 1.5 million academic articles. Sign Up to like articles & get recommendations!

Serotonergic projections to the orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal cortices differentially modulate waiting for future rewards

Photo from wikipedia

Serotonergic projections to the orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal cortices modulate waiting for future rewards differently. Optogenetic activation of serotonergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) enhances patience when waiting… Click to show full abstract

Serotonergic projections to the orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal cortices modulate waiting for future rewards differently. Optogenetic activation of serotonergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) enhances patience when waiting for future rewards, and this effect is maximized by both high probability and high timing uncertainty of reward. Here, we explored which serotonin projection areas contribute to these effects using optogenetic axon terminal stimulation. We found that serotonin stimulation in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is nearly as effective as that in the DRN for promoting waiting, while in the nucleus accumbens, it does not promote waiting. We also found that serotonin stimulation in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) promotes waiting only when the timing of future rewards is uncertain. Our Bayesian decision model of waiting assumed that the OFC and mPFC calculate the posterior probability of reward delivery separately. These results suggest that serotonin in the mPFC affects evaluation of time committed, while serotonin in the OFC is responsible for overall valuation of delayed rewards.

Keywords: waiting future; orbitofrontal medial; medial prefrontal; projections orbitofrontal; future rewards; serotonergic projections

Journal Title: Science Advances
Year Published: 2020

Link to full text (if available)


Share on Social Media:                               Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!

Related content

More Information              News              Social Media              Video              Recommended



                Click one of the above tabs to view related content.