Citation

Gourley SL, Taylor JR. Nat. Neurosci. 2016; 19(6): 656-664.

Affiliation

Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1038/nn.4275

PMID

27116390

Abstract

The rodent dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), specifically the prelimbic cortex (PL), regulates the expression of conditioned fear and behaviors interpreted as reward seeking. Meanwhile, the ventral medial PFC, namely the infralimbic cortex (IL), is essential to extinction conditioning in both appetitive and aversive domains. Here we review evidence that supports, or refutes, this "PL-go/IL-stop" dichotomy. We focus on the extinction of conditioned fear and the extinction and reinstatement of cocaine- or heroin-reinforced responding following abstinence. We then synthesize evidence that the PL is essential for developing goal-directed response strategies, while the IL supports habit behavior. Finally, we propose that some functions of the orbital PFC parallel those of the medial PFC in the regulation of response selection. Integration of these discoveries may provide points of intervention for inhibiting untethered drug seeking in drug use disorders, extinction failures in post-traumatic stress disorder, or co-morbidities between the two.

Language: en