Keynote address: revaluing the orbital prefrontal cortex.

The importance of orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in human behavioral regulation is no longer a matter of dispute, though its precise role remains a matter of ongoing investigation. It is ironic that this revaluation of OFC required a major departure from a historical nadir, during which it was viewed as redundant or "silent cortex," a situation that prevailed even up to the latter half of the 20th century. The increasing wealth of data from diverse fields within neuroscience now provides an unambiguous testament to the importance of this cortical region in behavioral regulation and cognition in general.