Abstract
The frontal cortex is found in the front of the brain and has three major parts: the motor cortex, the premotor cortex, and the prefrontal cortex (Fig. 41.1). The motor cortex is at the rear end of the frontal lobe. The premotor cortex is found immediately in front of the motor cortex, and the prefrontal cortex sits all the way up front, stretching to the tip of the brain. The puzzling name of the prefrontal cortex serves to distinguish it from the premotor and motor areas which lie successively behind it. Together, the prefrontal, premotor, and motor cortices occupy almost half of the cortical landscape in primates, the model system in the discussions in this chapter (Fig. 41.2).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Further Reading
Barbas H, Zikopoulos B (2007) The prefrontal cortex and flexible behavior. Neuroscientist 13:532–545
DeFelipe J (1997) Types of neurons, synaptic connections and chemical characteristics of cells immunoreactive for calbindin-D28K, parvalbumin and calretinin in the neocortex. J Chem Neuroanat 14:1–19
Fuster JM (1995) Memory and planning. Two temporal perspectives of frontal lobe function. Adv Neurol 66:9–19
Goldman-Rakic PS (1988) Topography of cognition: parallel distributed networks in primate association cortex. Annu Rev Neurosci 11:137–156
Jacobsen CF (1936) Studies of cerebral function in primates: I. The functions of the frontal association area in monkeys. Comput Psychol Monograph 13:3–60
Knight RT, Staines WR, Swick D, Chao LL (1999) Prefrontal cortex regulates inhibition and excitation in distributed neural networks. Acta Psychol (Amst) 101:159–178
Medalla M, Barbas H (2009) Synapses with inhibitory neurons differentiate anterior cingulate from dorsolateral prefrontal pathways associated with cognitive control. Neuron 61:609–620
Mesulam MM (1999) Spatial attention and neglect: parietal, frontal and cingulate contributions to the mental representation and attentional targeting of salient extrapersonal events. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 354:1325–1346
Miller EK, Cohen JD (2001) An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function. Annu Rev Neurosci 24:167–202
Nauta WJ (1971) The problem of the frontal lobe: a reinterpretation. J Psychiatr Res 8(3):167–187
Papez JW (1937) A proposed mechanism of emotion. Am Med Assoc Arch Neurol Psychiat 38:725–743
Robbins TW, Arnsten AF (2009) The neuropsychopharmacology of fronto-executive function: monoaminergic modulation. Annu Rev Neurosci 32:267–287
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this entry
Cite this entry
Barbas, H. (2013). Frontal Cortex. In: Pfaff, D.W. (eds) Neuroscience in the 21st Century. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1997-6_45
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1997-6_45
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-1996-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-1997-6
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences