Journal

The Japanese journal of neuropsychology

[Vol.23 No.1 contents]
Japanese/English

Full Text of this Article
in English PDF (462K)
ArticleTitle A gateway between mental life and the external world: Role of the rostral prefrontal cortex (area 10)
Language E
AuthorList Paul W. Burgess1), Sam J. Gilbert1), Iroise Dumontheil1)2)
Affiliation Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience & Psychology Department, UCL (University College London)
Laboratoire de Physiologie de la Perception et de l'Action, Collège de France, Paris, France
Publication Japanese Journal of Neuropsychology: 23 (1), 8-26, 2007
Received
Accepted
Abstract There are many reasons for supposing that rostral PFC (approximating brain area 10 in humans) might play a critical role in human cognition. For instance, it is the largest single subsection of the prefrontal cortex, and is also relatively bigger in humans than in any other animal. It also matures very late, and has an unusual architecture. However until very recently virtually nothing was known about the functions of this brain region. But evidence from neuroimaging and human neuropsychology together are now providing critical constraints for theorizing. In particular, although activations of rostral PFC are found in neuroimaging studies of a very wide variety of functions, the deficits experienced by patients with damage to this brain region seem remarkably specific. Rostral PFC lesions need not impair intellect, simple memory functions, or many other abilities. However they can lead to a syndrome of high-level behavioural disorganization, in which impairments in multitasking and prospective memory are a central, but by no means exclusive, feature. This paper reviews this evidence, and proposes that one explanation for these findings is that rostral PFC supports a cognitive mechanism whose purpose is to attenuate the degree to which one either attends to stimuli in the environment, or to self-generated thoughts. This notion is called the "gateway hypothesis" of area 10 function. We present a series of experiments, using fMRI, which demonstrate the plausibility of this account in three ways. First, by showing area 10 activations during the performance of tasks specifically designed to tap this hypothetical resource. Second, by showing BA 10 activations during tests of functions which putatively should require the operation of such a mechanism (prospective memory and context memory) . Third, by showing that a prediction about activation-behaviour relationships that follows from this hypothesis is supported by neuroimaging meta-analysis. We conclude that although the gateway hypothesis is unlikely to provide a complete account of the role of the processes supported by rostral PFC, it may prove a useful tool for interpreting some of the existing evidence.
Keywords BA10, anterior prefrontal cortex, frontal lobes, attention

Copyright © 2002 NEUROPSYCHOLOGY ASSOCIATION OF JAPAN All rights reserved
http://www.neuropsychology.gr.jp/