Prefrontal Cortex

Extracted Attributes

• Field

  Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Brain Anatomy

• Location

  Front part of the frontal lobe, mammalian brain

• Subdivisions

  Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), Ventromedial prefrontal cortex, Inferior lateral parts, Orbitomedial regions

• Brodmann Areas

  BA8, BA9, BA10, BA11, BA12, BA13, BA14, BA24, BA25, BA32, BA44, BA45, BA46, BA47

• Interconnections

  Extensive with other cortical, subcortical, and brain stem sites; dorsal PFC with attention, cognition, action regions; ventral PFC with emotion regions; receives inputs from brainstem arousal systems; extensive interconnections with the limbic system (hypothalamus, amygdala, insula, ACC)

• Primary Function

  Orchestration of thoughts and actions in accordance with internal goals

• Size (Human Adult)

  Nearly one-third of the totality of the neocortex

• Associated Concepts

  Will to live, Personality, Willpower, Mental Health

• Definition (Historical)

  Projection zone of the mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus

• Definition (Alternative)

  Association cortex of the frontal lobe

• Key Functions (Executive)

  Planning, Decision-making, Working memory, Personality expression, Moderating social behavior, Speech control, Differentiating conflicting thoughts, Understanding consequences, Controlling socially unacceptable urges, Attention, Inhibition, Emotion regulation, Complex learning, Theory-of-mind processing, Rule learning

• Evolutionary Characteristic

  Undergoes greatest expansion in evolution and individual maturation

• Developmental Characteristic

  Late-developing region of the neocortex

Timeline

• Akert explicitly suggested using the projection zone of the mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus as a criterion to define homologues of the prefrontal cortex in primates and nonprimates. (Source: Web Search)

  1964

Prefrontal cortex

In mammalian brain anatomy, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) covers the front part of the frontal lobe of the brain. It is the association cortex in the frontal lobe. The PFC contains the Brodmann areas BA8, BA9, BA10, BA11, BA12, BA13, BA14, BA24, BA25, BA32, BA44, BA45, BA46, and BA47. This brain region is involved in a wide range of higher-order cognitive functions, including speech formation (Broca's area), gaze (frontal eye fields), working memory (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex), and risk processing (e.g. ventromedial prefrontal cortex). The basic activity of this brain region is considered to be orchestration of thoughts and actions in accordance with internal goals. Many authors have indicated an integral link between a person's will to live, personality, and the functions of the prefrontal cortex. This brain region has been implicated in executive functions, such as planning, decision making, working memory, personality expression, moderating social behavior and controlling certain aspects of speech and language. Executive function relates to abilities to differentiate among conflicting thoughts, determine good and bad, better and best, same and different, future consequences of current activities, working toward a defined goal, prediction of outcomes, expectation based on actions, and social "control" (the ability to suppress urges that, if not suppressed, could lead to socially unacceptable outcomes). The frontal cortex supports concrete rule learning, with more anterior regions supporting rule learning at higher levels of abstraction.

Web Search Results

• Prefrontal Cortex - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

  The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the anterior section of the brain's frontal lobes. Central to the top-down control of attention, inhibition, emotion regulation, complex learning, and theory-of-mind processing, the prefrontal cortex is a heterogeneous brain circuit composed of many important subdivisions. Of critical note for understanding emotion dysregulation are the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). The DLPFC is crucial in attention, working memory, and [...] The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the part of the frontal cortex anterior to the motor strip and supplementary motor areas. The ventral regions are involved in aspects of cognition and the inferior lateral parts, in emotions. The orbitofrontal or prefrontal lateral cortex (PFLC) has extensive interconnections with the limbic system—the hypothalamus, amygdala, insula, and ACC. The importance of the prefrontal cortex in bladder control was established from clinical studies by several investigators [...] Skip to Main content My account Sign in # Prefrontal Cortex In subject area:Psychology The prefrontal cortex is defined as the association cortex of the frontal lobe, playing a crucial role in cognitive functions, emotional behavior, and the temporal organization of behavior, with subdivisions including the orbitomedial and dorsolateral regions. It is involved in processes such as sensory processing, planning, execution of complex behaviors, and short-term memory.

• Frontal lobe and cognitive development - PubMed

  In phylogeny as in ontogeny, the association cortex of the frontal lobe, also known as the prefrontal cortex, is a late-developing region of the neocortex. It is also one of the cortical regions to undergo the greatest expansion in the course of both evolution and individual maturation. In the human adult, the prefrontal cortex constitutes as much as nearly one-third of the totality of the neocortex. The protracted, relatively large, development of the prefrontal cortex is manifest in gross [...] morphology as well as fine structure. In the developing individual, its late maturation is made most apparent by the late myelination of its axonal connections. This and other indices of morphological development of the prefrontal cortex correlate with the development of cognitive functions that neuropsychological studies in animals and humans have ascribed to this cortex. In broad outline, the ventromedial areas of the prefrontal cortex, which with respect to other prefrontal areas develop

• Prefrontal cortex - Wikipedia

  The prefrontal cortex is highly interconnected with much of the brain, including extensive connections with other cortical, subcortical and brain stem sites. The dorsal prefrontal cortex is especially interconnected with brain regions involved with attention, cognition and action, while the ventral prefrontal cortex interconnects with brain regions involved with emotion. The prefrontal cortex also receives inputs from the brainstem arousal systems, and its function is particularly dependent on [...] 3. ^ Harms, Madeline B.; Pollak, Seth D. (2024). "Emotion regulation". Encyclopedia of Adolescence. pp. 110–124. doi "Doi (identifier)"):10.1016/B978-0-323-96023-6.00036-1. ISBN "ISBN (identifier)") 978-0-323-95820-2. The prefrontal cortex is the anterior section of the brain's frontal lobes. Central to the top-down control of attention, inhibition, emotion, complex learning, and theory-of-mind processing, the prefrontal cortex is a heterogeneous brain circuit composed of many important [...] To define the prefrontal cortex as the projection zone of the mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus builds on the work of Rose and Woolsey, who showed that this nucleus projects to anterior and ventral parts of the brain in nonprimates, however, Rose and Woolsey termed this projection zone "orbitofrontal." It seems to have been Akert, who, for the first time in 1964, explicitly suggested that this criterion could be used to define homologues of the prefrontal cortex in primates and nonprimates.

• Prefrontal Cortex: Anatomy, Function, and Conditions

  The prefrontal cortex is found in front of the frontal lobe of the brain. It affects your behavior, personality, and executive function. When the prefrontal cortex is damaged, it can cause changes to how you think and behave. It is important to remember that you may not always notice changes in your behavior or thinking. Your friends and loved ones are more likely to point out that something is wrong. [...] Anatomy Function Associated Conditions Tests Frequently Asked Questions The prefrontal cortex is an important part of your brain. It is at the front of the frontal lobe, which is immediately behind the forehead. It affects your behavior, personality, and ability to plan. This article will explain more about the anatomy, location, and function of the prefrontal cortex.1 [...] Image 1: View of forehead, the brain's prefrontal cortex lies at the front of the skull:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-565977813-1a0775b69c294a0aacd963706d9f3709.jpg) Eric Raptosh Photography / Getty Images Anatomy The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is connected to many other parts of the brain and is able to send and receive information. The prefrontal cortex is divided into these two parts:1

• Resolving the prefrontal mechanisms of adaptive cognitive behaviors

  The prefrontal cortex (PFC) enables a staggering variety of complex behaviors, such as planning actions, solving problems, and adapting to new situations according to external information and internal states. These higher-order abilities, collectively defined as adaptive cognitive behavior, require cellular ensembles that coordinate the tradeoff between the stability and flexibility of neural representations. While the mechanisms underlying the function of cellular ensembles are still unclear,