title: Visual predictions in the orbitofrontal cortex rely on associative content.
abstract: Predicting upcoming events from incomplete information is an essential brain function. The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) plays a critical role in this process by facilitating recognition of sensory inputs via predictive feedback to sensory cortices. In the visual domain, the OFC is engaged by low spatial frequency (LSF) and magnocellular-biased inputs, but beyond this, we know little about the information content required to activate it. Is the OFC automatically engaged to analyze any LSF information for meaning? Or is it engaged only when LSF information matches preexisting memory associations? We tested these hypotheses and show that only LSF information that could be linked to memory associations engages the OFC. Specifically, LSF stimuli activated the OFC in 2 distinct medial and lateral regions only if they resembled known visual objects. More identifiable objects increased activity in the medial OFC, known for its function in affective responses. Furthermore, these objects also increased the connectivity of the lateral OFC with the ventral visual cortex, a crucial region for object identification. At the interface between sensory, memory, and affective processing, the OFC thus appears to be attuned to the associative content of visual information and to play a central role in visuo-affective prediction.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Affective Science Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany and.
authors.forename: Maximilien
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chaumon
authors.affiliation: Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
authors.forename: Kestutis
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kveraga
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Affective Science Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa Feldman
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.affiliation: Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA, Gonda Center for Brain Research, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Moshe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bar
mesh_terms: D001244:Association; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: fMRI; perception; top-down