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Category: Project

Description: Decision-making and learning involve habitual (model-free) and goal-directed (model-based) processes. Lateral prefrontal cortex regions are thought to be critically involved in model-based learning. In contrast, activity in ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex / medial orbitofrontal cortex has been shown to track both model-based and model-free learning signals, suggesting some degree of neural overlap in these functions. Here we explored model-based and model-free learning using a sequential two-stage learning task in patients with lesions to medial orbitofrontal cortex as well as healthy matched controls. Both group-level and individual-subject analyses suggest that model-based influences on choices are intact following lesions to medial orbitofrontal cortex. Our results constrain current neural models of model-based and model-free components of learning and decision-making by showing that medial orbitofrontal cortex is not required for model-based decision-making to occur.