Frontal Lobe · Structure
Orbitofrontal Cortex
The value calculator behind your eyes.
Tucked just above your eye sockets, the orbitofrontal cortex tags choices with worth — how good, how risky, how socially acceptable. It links raw emotion from deeper structures to reasoned decisions.
What it does
- Assigning value and reward to options
- Reading social cues and consequences
- Regulating emotional impulses
In the real world
Understanding addiction
Reduced orbitofrontal activity is linked to compulsive choices despite harm, which is reshaping how clinics treat substance use as a brain-circuit problem rather than a moral failing.