Neu entdeckte Gehirnzellen, die mit Unsicherheit und Entscheidungsfindung im orbitofrontalen Kortex von Ratten in Zusammenhang stehen, könnten den Weg für die Behandlung von Angstzuständen und Substanzstörungen ebnen
https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/newly-discovered-brain-cells-are-wired-for-uncertainty
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> The UCLA discovery in rats could aid the development of new treatments that involve the targeting of rigid thought patterns such as those in anxiety and substance use disorders in humans, who also have the same kind of brain cells.
>The orbitofrontal cortex is located in the brain directly above the eyes in humans and rats, and is involved in flexible reward learning, which happens when we don’t know which of our choices will lead to the reward until we learn a pattern or set of conditions that lead to the rewarded option.
>When UCLA researchers inactivated the orbitofrontal cortex in rats, the rats performed much more poorly on flexible reward learning tasks. Further investigation revealed a cluster of neurons within this region were the ones most involved in making decisions with uncertain outcomes.
>The discovery could aid the development of new treatments that involve the targeting of rigid thought patterns, such as those in anxiety and substance use disorders in humans, who also have the same kind of brain cells
[Neural coding of choice and outcome are modulated by uncertainty in orbitofrontal but not secondary motor cortex | Nature Communications](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-63866-5)
Fascinating that something as complex as decision making can be traced to specific brain regions. Makes you wonder how much of our free choice is just neural wiring.
Could this also pave the way for future treatments for ADHD? From my understanding, issues with the orbitofrontal cortex typically correlates with ADHD