What Does the Frontopolar Cortex Contribute to Goal-Directed Cognition and Action?

Abstract

Understanding the unique functions of different subregions of primate prefrontal cortex has been a longstanding goal in cognitive neuroscience. Yet, the anatomy and function of one of its largest subregions (the frontopolar cortex) remain enigmatic and underspecified. Our Society for Neuroscience minisymposiumPrimate Frontopolar Cortex: From Circuits to Complex Behaviorswill comprise a range of new anatomic and functional approaches that have helped to clarify the basic circuit anatomy of the frontal pole, its functional involvement during performance of cognitively demanding behavioral paradigms in monkeys and humans, and its clinical potential as a target for noninvasive brain stimulation in patients with brain disorders. This review consolidates knowledge about the anatomy and connectivity of frontopolar cortex and provides an integrative summary of its function in primates. We aim to answer the question: what, if anything, does frontopolar cortex contribute to goal-directed cognition and action?

PAK3 downregulation induces cognitive impairment following cranial irradiation

“…Treatment with Cy5-antagomiR treatment dose-dependently increased Cy5 fluorescence. As the frontal cortex and hippocampus are cognition-related central regions in the brain (Christensen et al, 2022; Hogeveen et al, 2022; Price & Duman, 2020; Sakimoto et al, 2021) , we confirmed IR and antagomiR effects in the frontal cortex and hippocampus. Consistent with in vitro results (Fig.…”

“…Cognition is a complex mental process that involves the acquisition, processing, and application of knowledge (Harvey, 2019; Jessen et al, 2020) . The frontal cortex and hippocampus are two critical regions of the brain that play a key role in cognition, including memory, attention, and decision-making (Christensen et al, 2022; Hogeveen et al, 2022; Price & Duman, 2020; Sakimoto et al, 2021) . Cognitive impairment is a common feature of many psychiatric diseases, such as schizophrenia (Gebreegziabhere et al, 2022; Jauhar et al, 2022) and major depressive disorder (Douglas et al, 2018; Wen et al, 2022) , and can significantly impact an individual’s quality of life.…”

A Causal Role of the Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Random Exploration

“…While previous studies mostly applied an 80 % individual resting motor threshold, recent studies suggested higher doses for proper stimulation conditions. That’s why, we applied a 100 % individual resting motor threshold [Hogeveen et al, 2022a]. To find stimulation sites, we used the 10-20 EEG international system.…”

“…The second line of research comes from studies that showed the dissociable role of the right frontopolar cortex (rFPC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) in controlling direct and random exploration, respectively. Previous neuroimaging studies showed that rFPC drives information-seeking and direct exploration [Badre et al, 2012, Hogeveen et al, 2022a, Mansouri et al, 2017, Tomov et al, 2020], while rDLPFC drives random exploration [Jahn et al, 2023, Tomov et al, 2020]. Moreover, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the rFPC decreases direct exploration while intact random exploration [Zajkowski et al, 2017b].…”

Optimizing Individual Targeting of Fronto-Amygdala Network with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS): Biophysical, Physiological and Behavioral Variations in People with Methamphetamine Use Disorder

“…Previous work has implicated both the frontopolar cortex (medial prefrontal cortex, Brodmann Area 10) and the amygdala in substance-associated plasticity through the prefrontal-limbic system [2]. The amygdala is critical in responses to affective stimuli, and the frontopolar cortex is thought to be involved in tasks that require control of cognition and action [3]. Amygdala-frontopolar coupling is also recognized as a marker of early relapse risk in people with SUDs [4].…”