Orbitofrontal cortex and memory formation

Abstract

Which one of the many regions of the anatomically heterogeneous prefrontal cortex is part of the critical core of the neural circuit for encoding? This positron emission tomography (PET) experiment measured changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) in normal human participants during the presentation of abstract visual information in four conditions that varied in their encoding demands. As encoding increased across the different conditions, there was an increase in activity in the right orbitofrontal cortex and the right parahippocampal region. No significant activation peaks were present in any other region of the frontal or temporal lobe. These findings indicate that the orbitofrontal cortex, which is massively connected to the medial temporal cortex, is a critical frontal region for memory formation.