The prefrontal cortex
Anatomy of the prefrontal cortex (PFC)
Here is a schematic view of the human prefrontal cortex. Parcellations varies in function of applied criteria, and here is depicted an approximated functional parcellation.
Each region can be in turn decomposed into several subregions, that are involved in different cognitive functions and connected to other brain regions.
To make it simple, the PFC can be decomposed into two main prefrontal regions: the lateral part involved in cognitive aspects of goal-directed behaviors, and the ventral part involved in its affective aspects. Damage to these two regions is associated with two distinct clinical syndromes. Cognitive deficits in planning dominate in the lateral syndrome, behavioral regulation and motivation disorders in the ventral syndrome. Beyond this distinction, the question of how the systems that enable cognitive and behavioral aspects of adaptation are organized in prefrontal subregions, and can be best assessed, is not fully understood. This question is an essential issue in cognitive neuroscience and is crucial to improve clinical practice.
To know more about the prefrontal cortex, see for instance the following publications from our team:
Volle E, Levy R. Rôle du cortex préfrontal dans l'adaptation comportementale chez l'homme [Role of the prefrontal cortex in human behavioral adaptation]. Med Sci (Paris). 2014 Feb;30(2):179-85. French. doi: 10.1051/medsci/20143002016. Epub 2014 Feb 24. PMID: 24572117.
Thiebaut de Schotten M, Urbanski M, Batrancourt B, Levy R, Dubois B, Cerliani L, Volle E. Rostro-caudal Architecture of the Frontal Lobes in Humans. Cereb Cortex. 2017 Aug 1;27(8):4033-4047. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhw215. PMID: 27461122; PMCID: PMC6248461.
FUnctional connectivity
The different subparts of the prefrontal cortex are connected to different other brain areas, which are forming networks.
The prefrontal cortex is notably connected to three main networks:
the Default Network (involved for instance in mind-wandering)
the Executive Network (or fronto-parietal network), involved for instance in decision-making and motivation
the Saliency Network (involved for instance in attentional processes)
The default
network
The executive
network
The saliency
network
Based on the study of Yeo et al, 2011.
To know more about how we use functional connectivity and brain morphometrics (inter-individual variations of grey matter) in the team, please refer to the Neuroimaging methods page.