prefrontal cortex

(noun)

The anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain, lying in front of the motor and premotor areas. This brain region has been implicated in planning complex cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision making, and moderating social behavior, but its primary function is the orchestration of thoughts and actions in accordance with internal goals.

Related Terms

Examples of prefrontal cortex in the following topics:

  • Motor Areas

    • The motor areas of the brain are located in both hemispheres of the cortex.
    • Premotor cortex: Located anterior to the primary motor cortex and responsible for some aspects of motor control.
    • Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex – Important for executive functions, including working memory, cognitive flexibility, and abstract reasoning.
    • Various experiments examining the motor cortex map showed that each point in motor cortex influences a range of muscles and joints, indicating significant overlapping in the map.
    • $$Topography of the human motor cortex, including the premotor cortex, SMA, primary motor cortex, primary somatosensory cortex, and posterior parietal cortex.

  • Limbic System

    • The limbic system makes up the inner border of the cortex and is vital for emotion, motivation, and memory.
    • The term "limbic" comes from the Latin limbus, for "border" or "edge," because the limbic system forms the inner border of the cortex.
    • Amygdala: Involved in signaling the cortex of motivationally-significant stimuli, such as those related to reward and fear, and in social functions, such as mating.
    • The limbic system is also tightly connected to the prefrontal cortex.
    • To cure severe emotional disorders, this connection was sometimes surgically severed, a procedure of psychosurgery called a prefrontal lobotomy.

  • Basal Ganglia

    • They are situated at the base of the forebrain and are strongly connected with the cerebral cortex, thalamus, and other brain areas.
    • The "behavior switching" that takes place within the basal ganglia is influenced by signals from many parts of the brain, including the prefrontal cortex, which plays a key role in executive functions.
    • The pallidum receives its most important input from the striatum (either directly or indirectly), and sends inhibitory output to a number of motor-related areas, including the part of the thalamus that projects to the motor-related areas of the cortex.
    • The subthalamic nucleus (STN) receives input mainly from the striatum and cortex, and projects to a portion of the pallidum (interna portion or GPi).

  • Cerebral Lobes

    • The cortex is divided into four main lobes: frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal.
    • The frontal lobe contains most of the dopamine-sensitive neurons in the cerebral cortex.
    • A report from the National Institute of Mental Health indicates that a gene variant that reduces dopamine activity in the prefrontal cortex is related to poorer performance in that region during memory tasks; this gene variant is also related to slightly increased risk for schizophrenia.
    • For example, it comprises the somatosensory cortex and the dorsal stream of the visual system.
    • The superior temporal gyrus includes an area where auditory signals from the ear first reach the cerebral cortex and are processed by the primary auditory cortex in the left temporal lobe.

  • Stress and Disease

    • The regions of the brain involved in memory processing that are implicated in PTSD include the hippocampus, amygdala, and frontal cortex, while the heightened stress response is likely to involve the thalamus, hypothalamus, and locus coeruleus.
    • An increase in noradrenaline in the frontal/prefrontal cortex modulates the action of selective noradrenaline re-uptake inhibition and improves mood.
    • Increasing noradrenaline transmission to other areas of the frontal cortex modulates attention.

  • The Role of the Basal Ganglia in Movement

    • They are situated at the base of the forebrain and are strongly connected with the cerebral cortex, thalamus, and other brain areas.
    • The behavior switching that takes place within the basal ganglia is influenced by signals from many parts of the brain, including the prefrontal cortex, which plays a key role in executive functions.
    • The inputs from the cortex and thalamus to the striatum and subthalamic nucleus are glutamatergic, but the outputs from the striatum, pallidum, and substantia nigra pars reticulata all use GABA.

  • The Brain

    • As a rule, the smaller the cerebrum, the less convoluted the cortex.
    • The cortex of a rat or mouse is almost completely smooth.
    • The cortex of a dolphin or whale, on the other hand, is more convoluted than the cortex of a human.
    • The left and right hemispheres of the cerebral cortex are nearly symmetrical.
    • When the physical symptoms of emotion appear, the threat they pose returns to the limbic centers via the hypothalamus, then to the prefrontal nuclei, increasing anxiety.

  • Association Areas

    • Associative areas of the cortex integrate current states with past states to predict proper responses based on sets of stimuli.
    • The parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes, all located in the posterior part of the cortex, organize sensory information into a coherent perceptual model of our environment centered on our body image.
    • The frontal lobe or prefrontal association complex is involved in planning actions and movement, as well as abstract thought.
    • The association areas are organized as distributed networks, and each network connects areas distributed across widely spaced regions of the cortex.
    • The processes of language expression and reception occur in areas other than just the perisylvian structures such as the prefrontal lobe, basal ganglia, cerebellum, pons, caudate nucleus, and others.

  • Disorders of the Basal Ganglia

    • These areas are thought to control not only motor function but also oculomotor, prefrontal, associative, and limbic areas.
    • Other motor deficits and common non-motor features of Parkinson's, such as autonomic dysfunction, cognitive impairment, and gait/balance difficulties, are thought to result from widespread progressive pathological changes commencing in the lower brain stem and ascending to the midbrain, amygdala, thalamus, and ultimately the cerebral cortex.

  • Neural Mechanisms (Cortex)

    • The primary motor cortex is the neural center for voluntary respiratory control.
    • More broadly, the motor cortex is responsible for initiating any voluntary muscular movement.
    • Different parts of the cerebral cortex control different forms of voluntary respiration.
    • Topography of the primary motor cortex, on an outline drawing of the human brain.
    • Each part of the primary motor cortex controls a different part of the body.