B+Frontal+Cortex

he **frontal lobe** is an area in the [|brain] of humans and other [|mammals], located at the front of each [|cerebral hemisphere] and positioned anterior to (in front of) the [|parietal lobes] and superior and anterior to the [|temporal lobes] (i.e. directly behind the forehead or "temple"). It is separated from the parietal lobe by the post-central gyrus [|primary motor cortex], which controls voluntary movements of specific body parts associated with the precentral [|gyrus] posteriorly, inferiorly by lateral sulcus[slyvian] which separates it from the temporal lobe, superiorly by the superior margin of the hemisphere and anteriorly by the frontal pole. The frontal lobe contains most of the dopamine-sensitive neurons in the [|cerebral cortex]. The [|dopamine] system is associated with reward, attention, long-term memory, planning, and drive. Dopamine tends to limit and select sensory information arriving from the [|thalamus] to the fore-brain. A report from the National Institute of Mental Health says a gene variant that reduces dopamine activity in the [|prefrontal cortex] is related to poorer performance and inefficient functioning of that brain region during working memory tasks, and to slightly increased risk for [|schizophrenia] The [|executive functions] of the frontal lobes involve the ability to recognize future consequences resulting from current actions, to choose between good and bad actions (or better and best), override and suppress unacceptable social responses, and determine similarities and differences between things or events. Therefore, it is involved in higher mental functions. The frontal lobes also play an important part in retaining longer term memories which are not task-based. These are often memories associated with emotions derived from input from the brain's [|limbic system]. The frontal lobe modifies those emotions to generally fit socially acceptable norms. Psychological tests that measure frontal lobe function include finger tapping, [|Wisconsin Card Sorting Task], and measures of verbal and figural fluency.[|[][|2][|]] Damage to the frontal lobes can lead to a variety of results:
 * Mental flexibility and spontaneity are impaired, but IQ is not reduced.
 * Talking may increase or decrease dramatically.
 * Perceptions regarding risk-taking and rule-abiding are impaired.
 * Socialization can diminish or increase.
 * Orbital frontal lobe damage can result in peculiar sexual habits.
 * Dorsolateral frontal lobe damage reduces sexual interest.
 * Creativity is diminished or increased as well as problem solving skills.
 * Distraction occurs more frequently.
 * Loss of smell and/or taste

For many years, many scientists thought that the frontal lobe was disproportionately enlarged in humans compared to other primates. They thought that this was an important feature of human evolution and was the primary reason why human cognition is different from that of the other primates. However, this view has been challenged by newer research. Using [|magnetic resonance imaging] to determine the volume of the frontal cortex in humans, all extant ape species and several [|monkey] species, Semendeferi //et al.// found that the human frontal cortex was not relatively larger than the cortex in the other [|great apes] but was relatively larger than the frontal cortex in the [|lesser apes] and the monkeys.[|[][|3][|]]

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= =Orbitofrontal Cortex= The **orbitofrontal cortex** (OFC) is a [|prefrontal cortex] region in the [|frontal lobes] in the [|brain] which is involved in the [|cognitive] processing of [|decision-making]. It consists in non-human primates of the association [|cortex] areas [|brodmann area 11], [|12] and [|13]; in humans it consists of [|brodmann area 10], [|11] and [|47][|[][|1][|]] Because of its functions in [|emotion] and [|reward], the OFC is considered by some to be a part of the [|limbic system]. The OFC anatomically is defined as the part of the prefrontal cortex that receives projections from the magnocellular, medial nucleus of the [|mediodorsal thalamus].[|[][|2][|]] It gets its name from its position immediately above the [|orbits] in which are located the [|eyes]. Considerable individual variability has been found in the OFC of both humans and non-human primates. A related area is found in [|rodents].[|[][|3][|]] The human OFC is among the least-understood regions of the human brain; but it has been proposed that the OFC is involved in sensory integration, in representing the affective value of reinforcers, and in [|decision-making] and expectation.[|[][|1][|]] In particular, the human OFC is thought to regulate planning behavior associated with sensitivity to reward and punishment.[|[][|4][|]] This is supported by research in humans, non-human primates, and rodents. Human research has focused on neuroimaging research in healthy participants and neuropsychology research in patients with damage to discrete parts of the OFC. Research at the [|University of Leipzig] shows that the human OFC is activated during intuitive coherence judgements.[|[][|5][|]] Using [|functional magnetic resonance imaging] (fMRI) to image the human OFC is a challenge, because this brain region is in proximity to the air-filled sinuses. This means that [|signal dropout], geometric distortion and [|susceptibility artifacts] are common when using EPI at higher magnetic field strengths. Extra care is therefore recommended for obtaining a good signal from the orbitofrontal cortex, and a number of strategies have been devised, such as automatic shimming at high static magnetic field strengths[|[][|6][|]]. The published [|neuroimaging] studies have found that the reward value, the expected reward value, and even the subjective pleasantness of foods and other reinforcers are represented in the OFC. A large [|meta-analysis] of the existing neuroimaging evidence demonstrated that activity in medial parts of the OFC is related to the monitoring, learning, and memory of the reward value of reinforcers, whereas activity in lateral OFC is related to the evaluation of punishers, which may lead to a change in ongoing behaviour [|[][|7][|]]. Similarly, a posterior-anterior distinction was found with more complex or abstract reinforcers (such as monetary gain and loss) being represented more anteriorly in the orbitofrontal cortex than less-complex reinforcers such as taste. It has even been proposed that the human OFC has a role in mediating subjective hedonic experience

[|Iowa gambling task]
This simulation of real life [|decision-making] is widely used in cognition and emotion research.[|[][|4][|]] Participants are presented with four virtual decks of cards on a computer screen. They are told that each time they choose a card they will win some game money. Every so often, however, when they choose a card they will win money, but will also lose some money, too. They are told that the aim of the game is to win as much money as possible. The task is meant to be opaque, i.e., participants are not meant to consciously work out the rule, and they are supposed to choose cards based on their "[|gut reaction]." Two of the decks are "bad decks," which means that, over a long enough time, they will make a net loss; the other two decks are "good decks" and will make a net gain over time. Most healthy participants sample cards from each deck, and after about 40 or 50 selections are fairly good at sticking to the good decks. Patients with OFC dysfunction, however, continue to [|perseverate] with the bad decks, sometimes even though they know that they are losing money overall. Concurrent measurement of [|galvanic skin response] shows that healthy participants show a "stress" reaction to hovering over the bad decks after only 10 trials, long before conscious sensation that the decks are bad. By contrast, patients with OFC dysfunction never develop this physiological reaction to impending punishment. Bechara and his colleagues explain this in terms of the [|somatic markers hypothesis]. The Iowa gambling task is currently being used by a number of research groups using [|fMRI] to investigate which brain regions are activated by the task in healthy volunteers as well as clinical groups with conditions such as [|schizophrenia] and [|obsessive compulsive disorder].

Faux pas test
This is a series of vignettes recounting a social occasion during which someone said something that should not have been said, or an awkward occurrence. The participant's task is to identify what was said that was awkward, why it was awkward, how people would have felt in reaction to the faux pas and a factual control question. Although first designed for use in people on the [|autism spectrum][|[][|9][|]], the test is also sensitive to patients with OFC dysfunction, who cannot judge when something socially awkward has happened despite appearing to understand the story perfectly well.