The role of ventral medial prefrontal cortex in social decisions: Converging evidence from fMRI and frontotemporal lobar degeneration

▶ The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the role of ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in interpreting the value of contextual features of social scenarios. ▶ We tested the hypothesis that anatomical areas of fMRI activation in vmPFC of healthy adults would overlap with cerebral atrophy detected in the FTLD patients with social disorder. ▶ Comparative anatomical analysis revealed considerable overlap of vmPFC activation in healthy adults and vmPFC cortical atrophy in FTLD patients. ▶ The vmPFC activation appears to play a crucial role in evaluating the negative consequences of social decision-making, and progressive disease in this area contributes to the disruptive social behavior of patients with FTLD. ▶ These converging results support the role of vmPFC in social decision-making where potentially negative consequences must be considered.