Orbitofrontal cortex

Orbitofrontal cortex
Approximate location of the OFC shown on a sagittal MRI
Orbital surface of left frontal lobe.
Details
Part of	Frontal lobe
Identifiers
Latin	Cortex orbitofrontalis
NeuroNames	hier-73
NeuroLex ID	Orbital frontal cortex
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy []

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is a prefrontal cortex region in the frontal lobes in the brain which is involved in the cognitive processing of decision-making. In non-human primates it consists of the association cortex areas Brodmann area 11, 12 and 13; in humans it consists of Brodmann area 10, 11 and 47.

The OFC is considered anatomically synonymous with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Therefore, the region is distinguished due to the distinct neural connections and the distinct functions it performs. It is defined as the part of the prefrontal cortex that receives projections from the magnocellular, medial nucleus of the mediodorsal thalamus, and is thought to represent emotion and reward in decision making. It gets its name from its position immediately above the orbits in which the eyes are located. Considerable individual variability has been found in the OFC of both humans and non-human primates. A related area is found in rodents.

The OFC has been divided by structure and connections into a medial and a lateral part. The medial part is most strongly connected with the hippocampus and associated areas of the cingulate, retrosplenial and entorhinal cortices, anterior thalamus and septal diagonal band. The lateral part can be further subdivided into three sectors. The most caudal sector is characterized by strong connections with the amygdala, midline thalamus, non-isocortical insula and temporal pole. The most anterior sector has more pronounced connections with the granular insula, association cortex, mediodorsal thalamus, inferior parietal lobule and dorsolateral PFC.