The frontopolar cortex and human cognition: Evidence for a rostrocaudal hierarchical organization within the human prefrontal cortex

By Kalina Christoff, John D. E. Gabrieli. Psychobiology, 2000

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Numerous brain lesion and functional neuroimaging studies have suggested that the dorsolateral and frontopolar prefrontal regions are involved in complex cognitive processes subserving thought and memory. However, previously proposed functional subdivisions of prefrontal function have concentrated predominantly on posterior prefrontal cortex, including the dorsolateral, ventral, and medial regions. Far less consideration has been given to characterizing the psychological processes mediated by the frontopolar cortex. Here we review published neuroimaging studies of reasoning and episodic memory, two domains in which the frontopolar cortex has been frequently activated. The results suggest that dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is involved when externally generated information is being evaluated, whereas the frontopolar cortex becomes recruited when internally generated information needs to be evaluated. A hierarchical model of prefrontal function is proposed in which dorsolateral and frontopolar regions are serially recruited as a reasoning or memory task requires evaluation of internally generated information.

Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7d3fd645c90f8bd6b6b9c4e43ca70b92c87bc240

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In Cognitive Neuroscience

Citations in the corpus

Creativity, Within Reason (2016, background): “…reasoning, holds that relatively concrete mental representations of separate pieces of information derived from external stimuli (e.g., individual words or images within an analogy) are fed forward in the brain for abstract relational integration in frontopolar cortex (Christoff & Gabrieli, 2000).”
Bilingual Minds (2009, background): “The prefrontal cortex is sensitive to changes in demands involved in switching between tasks (Christoff & Gabrieli, 2000; MacDonald, Cohen, Stenger, & Carter, 2000) with more complex working memory demands associated with right frontal activation (Simmonds, Pekar, & Mostofsky, 2008).”
Searching for a baseline: Functional imaging and the resting human brain (2001, background): “We suggest that this spontaneous activity does not simply represent 'noise”
Interactions between frontal cortex and basal ganglia in working memory: A computational model (2001, background): “This hierarchy can continuewithin the frontal cortex, with more anterior areas concerned with ever longer time scales and more abstract plans and concepts (see Christoff & Gabrieli, 2000, and Koechlin, Basso, Pietrini, Panzer, & Grafman, 1999, for recent evidence consistentwith this idea).”
Is 2 + 2 = 4? Meta-analyses of brain areas needed for numbers and calculations (2011, background): “BA 9 has been associated with higher cognitive monitoring and manipulation of information (Christoff and Gabrieli, 2000).”
How Working Memory and the Cerebellum Collaborate to Produce Creativity and Innovation (2007, background): “) And, because this imagery appears also to be the source of stimulus-independent thought (contemplation, reflection, daydreaming; Christoff & Gabriell, 2000 ; Singer, 1966 ; Teasdale et al, 1995 ), it must be understood if we are to make sense of Einstein's (or anyone else's) contemplative accou”
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Evidence for a Hierarchical Organization of the Prefrontal Cortex (2007, neutral): “Others have focused on whether information monitored and maintained by working memory is internally or externally derived (Christoff & Gabrieli, 2000), whether the system must maintain/implement goals or subgoals (Braver, Reynolds, & Donaldson, 2003; Braver & Bongiolatti, 2002), what level of…”
N‐back working memory paradigm: A meta‐analysis of normative functional neuroimaging studies (2005, background): “…activated in numerous functional neuroimaging studies during tasks that are thought to tap functions as diverse as “processing of internal states” [Christoff and Gabrieli, 2000], “retrieval mode,” “success monitoring” (or retrieval verification), source memory [Cabeza et al., 1997; Duzel et…”
A Neurocognitive Approach to Metacognitive Monitoring and Control (2008, background): “This PFC region is particularly involved in tasks that involve complex processing, such as rational decision making, analogical reasoning, and self-generated retrieval from memory (Bunge, Wendelken, Badre, & Wagner, 2005; Christoff & Gabrieli, 2000; Simons, Owen, Fletcher, & Burgess, 2005).”
Coevolution of Composite‐Tool Technology, Constructive Memory, and Language (2010, background): “…suitcase of WM and shift the focus of inquiry to the kind of memory involving planning and coordination faculties of the frontopolar prefrontal cortex (FPPC; Brodman’s area 10) and adjacent areas of the frontal lobe (Burgess et al. 2008; Christoff and Gabrieli 2000; Koechlin et al. 1999, 2000).”
Similarities and Differences in the Neural Correlates of Episodic Memory Retrieval and Working Memory (2002, background): “For example, reviews of the literature suggest that anterior PFC is involved in other cognitive functions besides ER (MacLeod et al., 1998; Christoff and Gabrieli, 2000).”
Experience sampling during fMRI reveals default network and executive system contributions to mind wandering (2009, background): “Although reverse inference can be informative, and is widely used in the neuroimaging literature, it has limited validity (53–56), especially for higher order brain regions such as the anterior PFC that can be activated by multiple, diverse mental processes (46, 55).”
Frontal lobes and human memory: insights from functional neuroimaging. (2001, result): “Owen and colleagues found activation of left DLFC associated with this task relative to These tasks have also tended to activate AFC as well as DLFC (for a review, see Christoff and Gabrieli, 2000).”