Structural and functional abnormalities of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) have been implicated in affective disorders that manifest anxiety-related symptoms. However, research into the functions of primate OFC has predominantly focused on reward-oriented rather than threat-oriented responses. To redress this imbalance, the present study performed a comprehensive analysis of the independent role of 2 distinct subregions of the central OFC (anterior area 11; aOFC and posterior area 13; pOFC) in the processing of distal and proximal threat. Temporary inactivation of both aOFC and pOFC heightened responses to distal threat in the form of an unknown human, but not to proximal threat assessed in a discriminative Pavlovian conditioning task. Inactivation of the aOFC, however, did unexpectedly blunt conditioned threat responses, although the effect was not valence-specific, as conditioned appetitive responses were similarly blunted and appeared restricted to a discriminative version of the task (when both CS− and CS+ are present within a session). Inactivation of the pOFC did not affect conditioned responses to either proximal threat or reward and basal cardiovascular activity was unaffected by manipulations of activity in either subregion. The results highlight the contribution of aOFC and pOFC to regulation of responses to more distal uncertain but not proximal, certain threat and reveal their opposing contribution to that of the immediately adjacent medial OFC, area 14.

中文翻译：

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前和后眶额皮质失活对近端和远端威胁的情感反应的不同影响，以及普通狨猴的奖励预期

眶额皮质 (OFC) 的结构和功能异常与表现出焦虑相关症状的情感障碍有关。然而，对灵长类动物 OFC 功能的研究主要集中在面向奖励而不是面向威胁的反应上。为了纠正这种不平衡，本研究对中央 OFC 的 2 个不同子区域（前区 11；aOFC 和后区 13；pOFC）在处理远端和近端威胁中的独立作用进行了全面分析。aOFC 和 pOFC 的暂时失活增强了对未知人类形式的远端威胁的反应，但对在歧视性巴甫洛夫条件反射任务中评估的近端威胁没有反应。然而，aOFC 的失活确实使条件性威胁反应变得迟钝，虽然效果不是特定于效价的，因为条件性食欲反应同样迟钝，并且似乎仅限于任务的区分版本（当会话中同时存在 CS- 和 CS+ 时）。pOFC 的失活不影响对近端威胁或奖励的条件反应，并且基础心血管活动不受任一子区域活动操作的影响。结果突出了 aOFC 和 pOFC 对调节对更远端不确定但不是近端的某些威胁的反应的贡献，并揭示了它们对紧邻的内侧 OFC 的贡献，区域 14。pOFC 的失活不影响对近端威胁或奖励的条件反应，并且基础心血管活动不受任一子区域活动操作的影响。结果突出了 aOFC 和 pOFC 对调节对更远端不确定但不是近端的某些威胁的反应的贡献，并揭示了它们对紧邻的内侧 OFC 的贡献，区域 14。pOFC 的失活不影响对近端威胁或奖励的条件反应，并且基础心血管活动不受任一子区域活动操作的影响。结果突出了 aOFC 和 pOFC 对调节对更远端不确定但不是近端的某些威胁的反应的贡献，并揭示了它们对紧邻的内侧 OFC 的贡献，区域 14。