AMYGDALA-ORBITAL FRONTAL INTERACTION AND REWARD EXPECTANCY

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Orbital frontal cortex (ORB) or amygdala (AMYG) damage in primates yields deficits in using positive or negative outcomes to guide behavioral responses. Yet, their respective role in flexible goal-directed actions remains uncertain. The purpose of this project is to refine and implement the use of reversible inactivation, via cooling, to the precise neural substrate of cognitive functions in primates. For this project, the technique will allow to distinguish the role of ORB and AMYG in monkeys' ability to interpret the reinforcing value of visual stimuli and alter adaptively their choice responses upon both learned preferences and current motivational state. Two monkeys have been purchased and have completed the behavioral training and are awaiting the construction of the cooling probe to be implanted. At this time, they will resume training. Because of the difficulty in constructing the microprobes, we have contacted several engineers here at Emory and at Georgia Tech to help us with the design of the probes. The probes are now under construction and will be tested for their use in cooling experiment in the present year. We feel confident that the probes will be a powerful tool to study brain functioning.