ventromedialorbitofrontal

The ventromedial orbitofrontal cortex (VMOFC) is a subregion of the orbitofrontal cortex, located on the ventral and medial surface of the frontal lobe. It is part of the ventral prefrontal cortex and is commonly described together with adjacent medial OFC regions as the ventromedial prefrontal/orbitofrontal circuitry.

Functions include encoding the subjective value of rewards and punishments, integrating sensory, affective, and contextual information to compute expected value, and guiding adaptive decision making based on changing outcomes. The VMOFC is involved in affective appraisal, emotion regulation, and social evaluation.

Connectivity: input to the region comes from the amygdala, hippocampus, sensory cortices, and other limbic structures; it projects to other prefrontal areas, the striatum (including the nucleus accumbens), and the cingulate cortex, forming loops that support evaluating options and guiding behavior.

Clinical relevance: studies show that damage or dysfunction in the ventromedial OFC can impair decision making, risk assessment, and emotion regulation, with altered social behavior. Neuroimaging links it to value-based choices, reward learning, and preference-based decision making; abnormalities have been associated with mood disorders, addiction, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

Research notes: the VMOFC is often discussed in the context of the broader orbitofrontal cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Activity patterns in this region tend to reflect subjective value rather than purely objective features, contributing to the updating of value estimates as contingencies change.