Abbas Khani
University of Geneva, Switzerland
Title: Dissociable functions of the ACC and OFC: Therapeutic opportunities for psychiatric disorders
Biography
Biography: Abbas Khani
Abstract
The functional dissociation of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during decision making have been a major focus of research recently. These dissociations have been revealed in several dimensions of decision making including cost processing and dependence on stimulus-guided or action-guided functions. While these dissociations have usually been studied using lesion studies, we have extended such dissociable functions to pharmacological manipulations and showed that cannabinoid system activation in the ACC and OFC results in dissociable disruption of cost-benefit decision making. Putting together the relevant lesion and neuroimaging studies in both human and animal species together with single neuron and pharmacological manipulations, I will discuss the similarities and differences in the role of the ACC and OFC during decision making in psychiatric disorders with a special emphasis on therapeutic opportunities arising from several lines of studies.