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Is the rostro-caudal axis of the frontal lobe hierarchical?
Open accessAbstract
The frontal lobes in the brain are a component of the cerebral system that supports goal-directed behaviour. However, their functional organization remains controversial. Recent studies have reported rostro-caudal distinctions in frontal cortex activity based on the abstractness of action representations. In addition, some have proposed that these differences reflect a hierarchical organization, whereby anterior frontal regions influence processing by posterior frontal regions during the realization of abstract action goals as motor acts. However, few have considered whether the anatomy and physiology of the frontal lobes support such a scheme. To address this gap, this Review surveys anatomical, neuroimaging, electrophysiological and developmental findings, and considers the question: could the organization of the frontal cortex be hierarchical?
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“Rather than the more rostral areas being further along in the processing hierarchy [18, 19], two distinct hierarchical gradients of temporal- and feature-related abstraction converge in middle lateral prefrontal cortex [60].”
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“dients that have already been described within the temporal and frontal lobes [12-15, 17-19].”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Badre, D., & D'Esposito, M.
- Affiliations
- Brown University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Badre, David
- ORCID
- Badre, David
- Venue
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience
- Published
- 2009-08-12
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 659-669
- ISSN
- 1471-003X (ISSN-L)
- 1471-0048
- PMC
- PMC3258028
- OpenAlex
- W1990955460
- Cited by
- 946
- References
- 163
- Citations by year
- 2026: 47 · 2025: 48 · 2024: 46 · 2023: 65 · 2022: 60 · 2021: 50 · 2020: 58 · 2019: 38 · 2018: 60 · 2017: 76 · 2016: 67 · 2015: 54 · 2014: 63 · 2013: 64 · 2012: 64
- FWCI
- 3.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature reviews. Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH063901, MH 63901)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS40813, R01NS065046, P01NS040813)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- frontal lobe, rostrocaudal gradient, hierarchy, cognitive control, goal-directed behavior
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Frontal Lobe, Goals, Humans, Functional Laterality, Nerve Net, Psychomotor Performance
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