Behavioral inhibition and prefrontal cortex in decision-making.
Every day we make innumerable decisions; some require no effort at all whereas others require considerable deliberation and weighing of various options. Despite the importance of decision-making in our lives and increased research interest, the specific neural mechanisms underlying decision-making remain unclear. We propose that the brain has at least two cortical pathways that independently generate a decision about appropriate behavior in given circumstances. These two pathways are extensions of the dorsal and ventral streams of the visual processing pathways. The parieto-premotor (extended dorsal) pathway makes decisions about motor actions in a largely autonomous and automatic fashion whereas the temporo-ventrolateral prefrontal (extended ventral) pathway is involved primarily in deliberate decisions and inhibitory control over behavior through the inhibitory function of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.
Sakagami
Masamichi
M
Brain Science Research Center, Tamagawa University Research Institute, Machida, Tokyo, Japan. sakagami@lab.tamagawa.ac.jp
Pan
Xiaochuan
X
Uttl
Bob
B
D000818:Animals; D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*