ANATOMICAL BASIS OF DISORDERS OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTION

这个项目的总体目标是研究推理和决策的神经生物学基础，在一个特定的理论框架--“躯体标记假说”的指导下。该假说认为，个人和社会领域的决策缺陷是情绪相关信号(“躯体标记”)参与缺陷的结果，这些信号通常在暗中或公开地运作，以促进做出有利选择的过程。在目前的资助期间，我们研究了神经网络的解剖学、生理学和认知方面的问题，该神经网络被认为是躯体标记激活和决策的基础。我们证实，腹内侧(VM)前额叶皮质的功能障碍导致躯体状态的制定失败和决策缺陷。然而，其他神经区域的损伤，包括杏仁核和体感皮质(SII、SI和岛)也影响到躯体状态的激活和决策，这表明这几个区域是参与决策的神经系统的一部分。在到目前为止所获得的结果的指导下，我们提出的新的研究旨在确定这些成分以及我们在这里提出的其他成分所发挥的功能作用。这些研究要求使用认知和心理生理学实验中接近的损伤来检验几个假说中的几个假说。决策障碍是中风、头部损伤和脑瘤所见的“执行障碍综合症”的一个显著特征。这种障碍在吸毒成瘾、精神病和边缘人格障碍中也很普遍。我们的结果将有助于理解正常和病理的决策机制，并导致新的行为和药物管理策略的发展。

The overall aim of this project is the investigation of the neurobiological basis of reasoning and decision-making, guided by a specific theoretical framework, the "somatic marker hypothesis". The hypothesis posits that decision-making defects in the personal and social realms are the result of defective engagement of emotion related signals ("somatic markers") that normally operate, covertly or overtly, to facilitate the process of making advantageous choices. In the current funding period, we have investigate anatomical, physiological, and cognitive aspects of a neural network presumed to underlie somatic marker activation and decision making. We confirmed that dysfunction in the ventromedial (VM) prefrontal cortex leads to a failure to enact somatic states and to decision-making defects. However, lesions in other neural regions, including the amygdala and the somatosensory cortices (SII, SI, and insula) also compromise somatic state activation and decision-making, suggesting that these several regions are part of a neural system involved in decision-making. Guided by the results obtained so far, the new studies we propose aim at defining the functional roles played by these components, and by others we propose here. The studies call for the testing of several hypotheses of several hypotheses using the lesion approached in cognitive and psychophysiological experiments. Disorders of decision-making are A prominent feature of the "dysexecutive syndrome" seen in stroke, head injury, and brain tumors. Such disorders are also prevalent in drug addiction, psychopathy, and borderline personality disorder. Our results will contribute to the understanding of normal and pathological mechanisms of decision- making and lead to the development of novel behavioral and pharmacological management strategies.