A key region of the frontal cortex, located on the ventral surface and lying superior to the orbit of the eyes, which appears to play a role in social judgment and emotional behavior more generally. It receives direct inputs from the dorsomedial thalamus, the temporal cortex, the ventral segmental area, the olfactory system, and the amygdala. Its outputs terminate in a number brain regions, including the cingulate cortex, the inferior temporal cortex, the lateral hippocampus, the temporal cortex, and the amygdala. In contrast to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, it projects directly to brainstem and spinal visceral motor structures related to the autonomic nervous system. Damage to this part of the frontal cortex is associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder and autism.
See Amygdala, Autism, Basal ganglia (functions), Brain stem, Cingulate gyrus, Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), Frontal cortex, Hippocampus, Inferior temporal cortex (ITC), Object reversal test, Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Olfaction, Spinal cord, Temporal lobe, Thalamus