The integration of motivation and selection in human prefrontal cortex

old_uid10838
titleThe integration of motivation and selection in human prefrontal cortex
start_date2012/02/09
schedule11h30
onlineno
summaryThe prefrontal cortex subserves executive function, the high-level cognitive ability that allows humans to generate and adapt behavior relatively to internal goals and external stimuli. Two key component of the executive function are the selection of actions and the motivational evaluation of those actions, respectively related to the function of lateral and medial prefrontal cortices. We propose that the functional organisation of cognitive and motivaional control relies on the time-scale of information integration. Accordingly, posterior prefrontal regions drive immediate behavior adaptation on the basis of information conveyed by a stimulus and its context. Middle prefrontal regions are involved in maintaining over a series of trials a set of behavioural rules and processing their associated values. During a cognitive branching, the left and right medial prefrontal cortices can separately encode the values associated with delayed and ongoing task while the frontopolar region integrates these values and controls dual-task performance. Thus the functional properties of frontopolar and medial prefrontal cortices, despite imposing limitation on multitasking behavior, may play a critical role in decision by coordinating ongoing task and future goals.
responsiblesBéranger