Definition
The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is a part of the prefrontal cortex and is located on the ventral side of the frontal lobe just above the eye sockets or orbits. It is involved in sensory, cognitive, emotional, and motivational processes.
Introduction
Most of our knowledge about the structure and function of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) has been acquired within the last 20 years, primarily as a result of technological advancements in the areas of neuroimaging and brain stimulation. Damage to the OFC as a result of brain injuries and surgeries conducted to remove tumors have been other sources of valuable information regarding the OFC. Further knowledge on genetic and biochemical aspects of OFC function has been obtained from the study of animal models such as rats and nonhuman primates.
The OFC is well connected to a variety of regions in the cortex and subcortex of the brain, implicating its involvement in...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Berlin, H. A., Rolls, E. T., & Kischka, U. (2004). Impulsivity, time perception, emotion and reinforcement sensitivity in patients with orbitofrontal cortex lesions. Brain, 127(5), 1108–1126.
Berlin, H. A., Rolls, E. T., & Iversen, S. (2005). Borderline personality disorder, impulsivity, and the orbitofrontal cortex. American Journal of Psychiatry, 162(12), 2360–2373.
Blair, R. J. R. (2004). The roles of orbital frontal cortex in the modulation of antisocial behavior. Brain and Cognition, 55(1), 198–208.
Bremner, J. D., Vythilingam, M., Vermetten, E., Nazeer, A., Adil, J., Khan, S., et al. (2002). Reduced volume of the orbitofrontal cortex in major depression. Biological Psychiatry, 51(4), 273–279.
Cremers, H., van Tol, M., Roelofs, K., Aleman, A., Zitman, F. G., van Buchem, M. A., et al. (2011). Extraversion is linked to volume of the orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala. PLoS One, 6(12), e28421.
Evans, D. W., Lewis, M. D., & Lobst, E. (2004). The role of the orbitofrontal cortex in normally developing compulsive-like behaviors and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Brain and Cognition, 55(1), 220–234.
Kuhn, S., Schubert, F., & Gallinat, J. (2010). Reduced thickness of medial orbitofrontal cortex in smokers. Biological Psychiatry, 68(11), 1061–1065.
Moorman, D. E. (2018). The role of the orbitofrontal cortex in alcohol use, abuse, and dependence. Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 87, 85–107.
Rolls, E. T. (2004). The functions of the orbitofrontal cortex. Brain and Cognition, 55, 11–29.
Shott, M. E., Cornier, M., Mittal, V. A., Pryor, T. L., Orr, J. M., Brown, M. S., & Frank, G. K. W. (2015). Orbitofrontal cortex volume and brain reward response in obesity. International Journal of Obesity, 39(2), 214–221.
Silvers, J. A., Hubbard, A. D., Chaudhury, S., Biggs, E., Shu, J., Grunebaum, M., et al. (2016). Journal of Psychiatric Research, 81, 71–78.
Waugh, C., Wager, T., Fredrickson, B., Noll, D., & Taylor, S. (2008). The neural correlates of trait resilience when anticipating and recovering from threat. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 3(4), 322–332.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Jeyaraj-Powell, T. (2019). Orbitofrontal Cortex. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_451-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_451-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences