Editorial introduction to Greenwood/West dialogue

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 704-704
Author(s):  
JASON BRANDT
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Pathological Gambling ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Editorial Introduction ◽  
Frontal Lobe Dysfunction ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Artistic Skill

Although a U.S. Presidential Proclamation designated the 1990s “The Decade of the Brain,” not all cerebral constituents shared equally in the limelight. By anyone's accounting, the prefrontal cortex was the darling of clinicians and neuroscientists throughout the '90s, with everything from schizophrenia and anorexia nervosa to pathological gambling and the emergence of artistic skill attributed to “frontal lobe dysfunction” (David, 1992; Miller et al., 1998; Rugle & Melamed, 1993). It should come as no surprise, then, that that most universal of cognitive afflictions, aging, should be linked to changes in frontal cortex.

Set-maintenance and set-shifting problems in schizophrenic subtypes: relationship to dysfunctions of the fronto-striatal loops

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-38
Author(s):  
M.G. Lanser ◽  
B.A. Ellenbroek ◽  
A.R. Cools ◽  
F.G. Zitman
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Neuropsychological Tests ◽  
Set Shifting ◽  
Frontal Lobe Lesions ◽  
Core Symptom ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Information Set ◽  
The Brain

SUMMARYResearch with patients suffering from Parkinson's disease and frontal lobe lesions has shown that disturbances in the fronto-striatal loops in the brain can cause perseveration. Perseveration is a core symptom of schizophrenia, yet the cause is not known. For schizophrenic patients disorders of many parts of the fronto-striatal loops are found, for example disturbances of the prefrontal cortex and the striatum. Perseveration in schizophrenia can be explained with set-maintenance problems, related to dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex, or with set-shifting problems that are related to disorders in the striatum. These set-maintenance and set-shifting problems can be distinguished with neuropsychological tests. Regarding the bloodflow patterns for the different subtypes of schizophrenia three problems are expected as explanations for perseveration: set-maintenance problems concerning abstract information, set-maintenance problems shifting between stimuli and enhanced set-shifting with cues.

Evolution of the Prefrontal Cortex in the Hominins

2021 ◽  
pp. 333-371
Author(s):  
Richard E. Passingham
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Climatic Change ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Cultural Environment ◽  
Selection Pressures ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Rapid Transfer

When body weight is taken into account, there was a rapid expansion of the brain during the evolution of the hominins, with the greatest increase occurring from around 400,000 years ago. After this time there is evidence of the bulging of the frontal lobe indicating the further expansion of the prefrontal (PF) cortex. Many selection pressures could have influenced these changes, but all of them involve a change in environment. This could occur via climatic change, via changes in the ecosystem, by migration, or by changes in the cultural environment. The cultural environment includes technology such as stone tool making, cooperation in hunting, and the improvements in communication that this required. The adaptation to new environments requires the solution of new problems, and this was aided by the ability of the PF cortex to support rapid transfer from one problem to another.

scholarly journals Neural Responses in Dorsal Prefrontal Cortex Reflect Proactive Interference during an Auditory Reversal Task

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolas A. Francis ◽  
Susanne Radtke-Schuller ◽  
Jonathan B. Fritz ◽  
Shihab A. Shamma
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Proactive Interference ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Reversal Task ◽  
Neural Correlate ◽  
The Brain

AbstractTask-related plasticity in the brain is triggered by changes in the behavioral meaning of sounds. We investigated plasticity in ferret dorsolateral frontal cortex (dlFC) during an auditory reversal task to study the neural correlates of proactive interference, i.e., perseveration of previously learned behavioral meanings that are no longer task-appropriate. Although the animals learned the task, target recognition decreased after reversals, indicating proactive interference. Frontal cortex responsiveness was consistent with previous findings that dlFC encodes the behavioral meaning of sounds. However, the neural responses observed here were more complex. For example, target responses were strongly enhanced, while responses to non-target tones and noises were weakly enhanced and strongly suppressed, respectively. Moreover, dlFC responsiveness reflected the proactive interference observed in behavior: target responses decreased after reversals, most significantly during incorrect behavioral responses. These findings suggest that the weak representation of behavioral meaning in dlFC may be a neural correlate of proactive interference.Significance StatementNeural activity in prefrontal cortex (PFC) is believed to enable cognitive flexibility during sensory-guided behavior. Since PFC encodes the behavioral meaning of sensory events, we hypothesized that weak representation of behavioral meaning in PFC may limit cognitive flexibility. To test this hypothesis, we recorded neural activity in ferret PFC, while ferrets performed an auditory reversal task in which the behavioral meanings of sounds were reversed during experiments. The reversal task enabled us study PFC responses during proactive interference, i.e. perseveration of previously learned behavioral meanings that are no longer task-appropriate. We found that task performance errors increased after reversals while PFC representation of behavioral meaning diminished. Our findings suggest that proactive interference may occur when PFC forms weak sensory-cognitive associations.

Frontal lobe dysfunction in pathological gambling patients

2002 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 334-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Cavedini ◽  
Giovanna Riboldi ◽  
Roberto Keller ◽  
Arcangela D’Annucci ◽  
Laura Bellodi
Keyword(s):  
Pathological Gambling ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Frontal Lobe Dysfunction

scholarly journals Causal inference in the multisensory brain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yinan Cao ◽  
Christopher Summerfield ◽  
Hame Park ◽  
Bruno L. Giordano ◽  
Christoph Kayser
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Causal Inference ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Multisensory Integration ◽  
Multisensory Perception ◽  
Adaptive Behaviour ◽  
Sensory Fusion ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Combining Information

When combining information across different senses humans need to flexibly select cues of a common origin whilst avoiding distraction from irrelevant inputs. The brain could solve this challenge using a hierarchical principle, by deriving rapidly a fused sensory estimate for computational expediency and, later and if required, filtering out irrelevant signals based on the inferred sensory cause(s). Analysing time- and source-resolved human magnetoencephalographic data we unveil a systematic spatio-temporal cascade of the relevant computations, starting with early segregated unisensory representations, continuing with sensory fusion in parietal-temporal regions and culminating as causal inference in the frontal lobe. Our results reconcile previous computational accounts of multisensory perception by showing that prefrontal cortex guides flexible integrative behaviour based on candidate representations established in sensory and association cortices, thereby framing multisensory integration in the generalised context of adaptive behaviour.

The Comparative Anatomy of the Frontal Lobe, and its Bearing upon the Pathology of Insanity

1911 ◽  
Vol 57 (236) ◽  
pp. 52-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sydney J. Cole
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Cortex ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Comparative Anatomy ◽  
Late Development ◽  
Naked Eye ◽  
Prefrontal Region ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Comparative Histology ◽  
Great Development

Dr. J. S. Bolton has shown that in dementia the seat of greatest wasting of the cerebral cortex is commonly the prefrontal region, a region which (following Flechsig) he regards as a centre of higher association, the great development of which constitutes a leading character of the brain of man. This is a region which in man is one of the latest to myelinate (thirty-fifth in order, according to Flechsig), and if the order of myelination, as a part of ontogeny, may be taken as an approximate recapitulation of the order of phylogeny, then we might infer that the prefrontal region of man is a new region, of late development, absent or poorly developed in animals lower than man. Upon this assumption the predominant wasting of this region in dementia would be readily explained in accordance with Hughlings Jackson's doctrine of evolution and dissolution—dissolution following the inverse order of evolution. For an understanding of the pathology of insanity it is obviously important to inquire how far a study of comparative anatomy, especially of the primates, lends any support to such a conception. The aim of my discourse is accordingly to present, first, a brief survey of the recent observations of Dr. K. Brodmann, of Berlin, upon the comparative histology of the frontal cortex, and then some observations of my own upon naked-eye anatomy of the brain of man and higher apes.

Do Rats Have Prefrontal Cortex? The Rose-Woolsey-Akert Program Reconsidered

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd M. Preuss
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Frontal Lobe ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Delayed Reaction ◽  
Frontal Lobe Function ◽  
Mediodorsal Thalamic Nucleus ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Prefrontal Region ◽  
Higher Cognitive Functions

Primates are unique among mammals in possessing a region of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with a well-developed internal granular layer. This region is commonly implicated in higher cognitive functions. Despite the histological distinctiveness of primate dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the work of Rose, Woolsey, and Akert produced a broad consensus among neuroscientists that homologues of primate granular frontal cortex exist in nonprimates and can be recognized by their dense innervation from the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD). Additional characteristics have come to be identified with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, including rich dopaminergic innervation and involvement in spatial delayed-reaction tasks. However, recent studies reveal that these characteristics are not distinctive of the dorsolateral prefrontal region in primates: MD and dopaminergic projections are widespread in the frontal lobe, and medial and orbital frontal areas may play a role in delay tasks. A reevaluation of rat frontal cortex suggests that the medial frontal cortex, usually considered to be homologous to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of primates, actually consists of cortex homologous to primate premotor and anterior cin-date cortex. The lateral MD-projection cortex of rats resembles portions of primate orbital cortex. If prefrontal cortex is construed broadly enough to include orbital and cingulate cortex, rats can be said to have prefrontal cortex. However, they evidently lack homologues of the dorsolateral prefrontal areas of primates. This assessment suggests that rats probably do not provide useful models of human dorsolateral frontal lobe function and dysfunction, although they might prove valuable for understanding other regions of frontal cortex.

Morphological Changes in the Brain of Acutely Ill and Weight-Recovered Patients with Anorexia Nervosa

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jochen Seitz ◽  
Katharina Bühren ◽  
Georg G. von Polier ◽  
Nicole Heussen ◽  
Beate Herpertz-Dahlmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Clinical Prognosis ◽  
Qualitative Review ◽  
Brain Changes ◽  
The Brain

Objective: Acute anorexia nervosa (AN) leads to reduced gray (GM) and white matter (WM) volume in the brain, which however improves again upon restoration of weight. Yet little is known about the extent and clinical correlates of these brain changes, nor do we know much about the time-course and completeness of their recovery. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis and a qualitative review of all magnetic resonance imaging studies involving volume analyses of the brain in both acute and recovered AN. Results: We identified structural neuroimaging studies with a total of 214 acute AN patients and 177 weight-recovered AN patients. In acute AN, GM was reduced by 5.6% and WM by 3.8% compared to healthy controls (HC). Short-term weight recovery 2–5 months after admission resulted in restitution of about half of the GM aberrations and almost full WM recovery. After 2–8 years of remission GM and WM were nearly normalized, and differences to HC (GM: –1.0%, WM: –0.7%) were no longer significant, although small residual changes could not be ruled out. In the qualitative review some studies found GM volume loss to be associated with cognitive deficits and clinical prognosis. Conclusions: GM and WM were strongly reduced in acute AN. The completeness of brain volume rehabilitation remained equivocal.

Starving the brain: Structural abnormalities and cognitive impairment in adolescents with anorexia nervosa

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra K. Katzman ◽  
Bruce Christensen ◽  
Arlene R. Young ◽  
Robert B. Zipursky
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Structural Abnormalities ◽  
The Brain

SPECIFIC PROPERTIES OF TUBULIN IN THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX IN CONTROL, SCHIZOPHRENIA AND VASCULAR DEMENTIA

2020 ◽  
pp. 65-71
Author(s):  
Burbaeva G.Sh. ◽  
Androsova L.V. ◽  
Vorobyeva E.A. ◽  
Savushkina O.K.
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Vascular Dementia ◽  
Binding Activity ◽  
Nephelometric Method ◽  
Rate Of Polymerization ◽  
Mental Diseases ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Brain

The aim of the study was to evaluate the rate of polymerization of tubulin into microtubules and determine the level of colchicine binding (colchicine-binding activity of tubulin) in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia, vascular dementia (VD) and control. Colchicine-binding activity of tubulin was determined by Sherlinе in tubulin-enriched extracts of proteins from the samples. Measurement of light scattering during the polymerization of the tubulin was carried out using the nephelometric method at a wavelength of 450-550 nm. There was a significant decrease in colchicine-binding activity and the rate of tubulin polymerization in the prefrontal cortex in both diseases, and in VD to a greater extent than in schizophrenia. The obtained results suggest that not only in Alzheimer's disease, but also in other mental diseases such as schizophrenia and VD, there is a decrease in the level of tubulin in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, although to a lesser extent than in Alzheimer's disease, and consequently the amount of microtubules.

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