Contributions of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex to Social Influence in Economic Decision-Making.

Economic decisions are guided by highly subjective reward valuations (SVs). Often these SVs are over-ridden when individuals conform to social norms. Yet, the neural mechanisms that underpin the distinct processing of such normative reward valuations (NVs) are poorly understood.

Human Cerebellar Sub-millimeter Diffusion Imaging Reveals the Motor and Non-motor Topography of the Dentate Nucleus.

The reciprocal cortico-cerebellar loops that underlie cerebellar contributions to motor and cognitive behavior form one of the largest systems in the primate brain. Work with non-human primates has shown that the dentate nucleus, the major output nucleus of the cerebellum, contains topographically distinct connections to both motor and non-motor regions, yet there is no evidence for how the cerebellar cortex connects to the dentate nuclei in humans. Here we used in-vivo sub-millimeter diffusion imaging to characterize this fundamental component of the cortico-cerebellar loop, and identified a pattern of superior motor and infero-lateral non-motor connectivity strikingly similar to that proposed by animal work.

Vicarious reinforcement learning signals when instructing others.

Reinforcement learning (RL) theory posits that learning is driven by discrepancies between the predicted and actual outcomes of actions (prediction errors [PEs]). In social environments, learning is often guided by similar RL mechanisms. For example, teachers monitor the actions of students and provide feedback to them.

Automatic and controlled processing in the corticocerebellar system.

During learning, performance changes often involve a transition from controlled processing in which performance is flexible and responsive to ongoing error feedback, but effortful and slow, to a state in which processing becomes swift and automatic. In this state, performance is unencumbered by the requirement to process feedback, but its insensitivity to feedback reduces its flexibility. Many properties of automatic processing are similar to those that one would expect of forward models, and many have suggested that these may be instantiated in cerebellar circuitry.

The anterior cingulate gyrus signals the net value of others' rewards.

Evaluating the costs and benefits of our own choices is central to most forms of decision-making and its mechanisms in the brain are becoming increasingly well understood. To interact successfully in social environments, it is also essential to monitor the rewards that others receive. Previous studies in nonhuman primates have found neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) that signal the net value (benefit minus cost) of rewards that will be received oneself and also neurons that signal when a reward will be received by someone else.

Consensus paper: the cerebellum's role in movement and cognition.

While the cerebellum's role in motor function is well recognized, the nature of its concurrent role in cognitive function remains considerably less clear. The current consensus paper gathers diverse views on a variety of important roles played by the cerebellum across a range of cognitive and emotional functions. This paper considers the cerebellum in relation to neurocognitive development, language function, working memory, executive function, and the development of cerebellar internal control models and reflects upon some of the ways in which better understanding the cerebellum's status as a "supervised learning machine" can enrich our ability to understand human function and adaptation.

Reinforcement learning signals in the anterior cingulate cortex code for others' false beliefs.

The ability to recognise that another's belief is false is a hallmark of our capacity to understand others' mental states. It has been suggested that the computational and neural mechanisms that underpin learning about others' mental states may be similar to those that underpin first-person Reinforcement Learning (RL). In RL, unexpected decision-making outcomes constitute prediction errors (PE), which are coded for by neurons in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC).

Cerebellum and cognition: evidence for the encoding of higher order rules.

Converging anatomical and functional evidence suggests that the cerebellum processes both motor and nonmotor information originating from the primary motor cortex and prefrontal cortex, respectively. However, it has not been established whether the cerebellum only processes prefrontal information where rules specify actions or whether the cerebellum processes any form of prefrontal information no matter how abstract. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we distinguish between two competing hypotheses: (1) activity within prefrontal-projecting cerebellar lobules (Crus I and II) will only be evoked by rules that specify action (i.

The anterior cingulate cortex: monitoring the outcomes of others' decisions.

The ability to attribute mental states to others and understand the basis of their decisions is essential for human social interaction. A controversial theory states that this is achieved by simulating another's information processing in one's own neural circuits. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is known to play an important role in the registration of discrepancies between the predicted and actual outcomes of decisions (prediction errors).

Cognitive deficits from a cerebellar tumour: a historical case report from Luria's Laboratory.

In 1964 an original case report from A.R. Luria's Laboratory of Neuropsychology was published in Cortex, being one of the first to draw a link between cerebellum and cognition, by highlighting the manifestation of 'pseudo-frontal' symptoms resulting from a cerebellar tumour.

Frontal lobe and posterior parietal contributions to the cortico-cerebellar system.

Our growing understanding of how cerebral cortical areas communicate with the cerebellum in primates has enriched our understanding of the data that cerebellar circuits can access, and the neocortical areas that cerebellar activity can influence. The cerebellum is part of some large-scale networks involving several parts of the neocortex including association areas in the frontal lobe and the posterior parietal cortex that are known for their contributions to higher cognitive function. Understanding their connections with the cerebellum informs the debates around the role of the cerebellum in higher cognitive functions because they provide mechanisms through which association areas and the cerebellum can influence each others' operations.

Cerebellar plasticity and the automation of first-order rules.

Theories of corticocerebellar function propose roles for the cerebellum in automating motor control, a process thought to depend on plasticity in cerebellar circuits that exchange information with the motor cortex. Little is known, however, about automating behaviors beyond the motor domain. The present study tested the hypothesis that cerebellar plasticity also subserves the development of automaticity in behavior based on low-order rules.

Cerebellar information processing in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).

Recent research has characterized the anatomical connectivity of the cortico-cerebellar system - a large and important fibre system in the primate brain. Within this system, there are reciprocal projections between the prefrontal cortex and Crus II of the cerebellar cortex, which both play important roles in the acquisition and execution of cognitive skills. Here, we propose that this system also plays a particular role in sustaining skilled cognitive performance in patients with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS), in whom advancing neuropathology causes increasingly inefficient information processing.

Evolution of the cerebellar cortex: the selective expansion of prefrontal-projecting cerebellar lobules.

It has been suggested that interconnected brain areas evolve in tandem because evolutionary pressures act on complete functional systems rather than on individual brain areas. The cerebellar cortex has reciprocal connections with both the prefrontal cortex and motor cortex, forming independent loops with each. Specifically, in capuchin monkeys cerebellar cortical lobules Crus I and Crus II connect with prefrontal cortex, whereas the primary motor cortex connects with cerebellar lobules V, VI, VIIb, and VIIIa.

Distinct and overlapping functional zones in the cerebellum defined by resting state functional connectivity.

The cerebellum processes information from functionally diverse regions of the cerebral cortex. Cerebellar input and output nuclei have connections with prefrontal, parietal, and sensory cortex as well as motor and premotor cortex. However, the topography of the connections between the cerebellar and cerebral cortices remains largely unmapped, as it is relatively unamenable to anatomical methods.

A probabilistic MR atlas of the human cerebellum.

The functional organization of the cerebellum is reflected in large part by the unique afferent and efferent connectivity of the individual cerebellar lobules. This functional diversity on a relatively small spatial scale makes accurate localization methods for human functional imaging and anatomical patient-based research indispensable. Here we present a probabilistic atlas of the cerebellar lobules in the anatomical space defined by the MNI152 template.

Symbolic representations of action in the human cerebellum.

Cerebellar cortical areas connected to the neocortical motor system process information important for the sensory guidance of action. Converging evidence also supports the view that cerebellar cortical areas connected with the prefrontal cortex process information similarly in the cognitive domain. Here, we test the hypothesis that the prefrontal-projecting zones in the human cerebellum process the abstract content of information embedded within sensory cues.

Cerebellar contributions to working memory.

Anatomical studies show the existence of two well-characterized cortico-cerebellar 'loops' that connect prefrontal and cortical motor areas each with their own modules in the cerebellar cortex. The involvement of the cerebellar 'motor' modules in motor skills is well established, but little is understood about the way that cerebellar prefrontal modules process information from the prefrontal cortex. This question is particularly important for understanding the human cortico-cerebellar system because the prefrontal loop appears to have expanded significantly during the course of evolution.

The primate cortico-cerebellar system: anatomy and function.

Evidence has been accumulating that the primate cerebellum contributes not only to motor control, but also to higher 'cognitive' function. However, there is no consensus about how the cerebellum processes such information. The answer to this puzzle can be found in the nature of cerebellar connections to areas of the cerebral cortex (particularly the prefrontal cortex) and in the uniformity of its intrinsic cellular organization, which implies uniformity in information processing regardless of the area of origin in the cerebral cortex.

The evolution of prefrontal inputs to the cortico-pontine system: diffusion imaging evidence from Macaque monkeys and humans.

The cortico-ponto-cerebellar system is one of the largest projection systems in the primate brain, but in the human brain the nature of the information processing in this system remains elusive. Determining the areas of the cerebral cortex which contribute projections to this system will allow us to better understand information processing within it. Information from the cerebral cortex is conveyed to the cerebellum by topographically arranged fibres in the cerebral peduncle - an important fibre system in which all cortical outputs spatially converge on their way to the cerebellum via the pontine nuclei.

Variability in fMRI: a re-examination of inter-session differences.

We revisit a previous study on inter-session variability (McGonigle et al. [2000]: Neuroimage 11:708-734), showing that contrary to one popular interpretation of the original article, inter-session variability is not necessarily high. We also highlight how evaluating variability based on thresholded single-session images alone can be misleading.

Prediction error for free monetary reward in the human prefrontal cortex.

Making predictions about future rewards is an important ability for primates, and its neurophysiological mechanisms have been studied extensively. One important approach is to identify neural systems that process errors related to reward prediction (i.e.

New approaches for exploring anatomical and functional connectivity in the human brain.

Information processing in the primate brain is based on the complementary principles of modular and distributed information processing. The former emphasizes the specialization of functions within different brain areas. The latter emphasizes the massively parallel nature of brain networks and the fact that function also emerges from the flow of information between brain areas.

Willed action and attention to the selection of action.

Actions are said to be 'willed' if we consciously pay attention to their selection. It has been suggested that they are associated with activations in the dorsal prefrontal cortex (area 46). However, because previous experiments typically used a 'free selection' paradigm to examine this hypothesis, it is unclear whether the results reflected the attention to the selection of action or the freedom of choice allowed by the tasks.