RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Differential processing of decision information in subregions of rodent medial prefrontal cortex JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2022.08.04.502840 DO 10.1101/2022.08.04.502840 A1 Geoffrey W Diehl A1 A David Redish YR 2022 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/08/05/2022.08.04.502840.abstract AB Decision-making involves multiple cognitive processes requiring different aspects of information about the situation at hand. The rodent medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been hypothesized to be central to these abilities. Functional studies have sought to link specific processes to specific anatomical subregions, but past studies of mPFC have yielded controversial results, leaving the precise nature of mPFC function unclear. To settle this debate, we recorded from the full dorso-ventral extent of mPFC in each of 8 rats, as they performed a complex economic decision task. These data revealed four distinct functional domains within mPFC that closely mirrored anatomically-identified subregions, including novel evidence to divide prelimbic cortex into dorsal and ventral components. We found that dorsal aspects of mPFC (ACC, dPL) processed information about active decisions, while ventral aspects (vPL, IL) were more engaged in motivational factors.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.