1. Decision-making involves a little known brain region in the thalamus Journal of Neuroscience

2. Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) - part of the prefrontal cortex that receives projections from the magnocellular, medial nucleus of the mediodorsal thalamus, and is thought to represent emotion and reward in decision making.

3. Experiment Two phases: S1 – sound S2 – sound Three types of rats: 1.lesions to the orbitofrontal cortex 2.lesions on the submedius nucleus 3.lesion-free control animals

4. Results identified the existence of a circuit between the thalamus and the cortex proved to adaptive decision-making numerous functional circuits underlying this type of behavior may involve a contribution from the thalamus the present contribution supports the emerging view that limbic thalamic nuclei may contribute critically to adaptive responding when an element of flexibility is required after the establishment of initial learning

5. Journal references: F. Alcaraz, A. R. Marchand, E. Vidal, A. Guillou, A. Faugere, E. Coutureau, M. Wolff. Flexible Use of Predictive Cues beyond the Orbitofrontal Cortex: Role of the Submedius Thalamic Nucleus.Journal of Neuroscience, 2015; 35 (38): 13183 DOI:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1237-15.201510.1523/JNEUROSCI.1237-15.2015 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09 /150923134243.htm