Brain area’s possible role in drug addiction revealed
Substance abuse researchers have concluded that an area of the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex is responsible for decisions made on the spur of the moment, but not those made based on prior experience or habit. Scientists previously believed that the area of the brain was responsible for both types of behaviour and decision-making. The distinction is critical to understanding the neurobiology of decision-making, particularly with regard to substance abuse.
Scientists have assumed that the orbitofrontal cortex plays a role in ‘value-based’ decisionmaking, when a person compares options and weighs consequences and rewards to choose the best alternative. The new study showed that this area of the brain is involved in decision-making only when the value must be inferred or computed rapidly or hastily. If the value has been ‘cached’ or precomputed, like a habit, then the orbitofrontal cortex is not necessary.
The study enhances scientists’ understanding of how the brain works in healthy and unhealthy individuals. “This discovery has general implications in understanding
how the brain processes information to help us make good decisions and to learn from our mistakes,” said senior author Geoffrey Schoenbaum. “Drug addiction is marked by severe deficits in judgment and bad decision-making. We believe that drugs, particularly
cocaine, affect the orbitofrontal cortex. They coerce the system and hijack decision-making,” said Dr Jones. ANI
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