Frontal lobe

The frontal lobe is the anterior cerebral region containing motor and prefrontal territories. Movement control, action selection and other functions depend on distinct but interacting networks. Calling an effect frontal therefore leaves its precise anatomical and functional location unresolved.

A medial frontal motor region implicated in planning and sequencing actions, including self-initiated movement. It participates in interactions with basal ganglia and other motor systems.

A frontal cortical gyrus containing anatomically and functionally distinguishable subregions. Its left pars opercularis and pars triangularis are commonly associated with Broca's area.

A traditional label for left inferior-frontal territory, commonly associated with areas 44 and 45. It is heterogeneous: language-selective and domain-general regions can lie beside one another, and an anatomical label does not establish a single syntax function. The name commemorates Paul Broca.

The pars triangularis is the triangular part of the inferior frontal gyrus, between neighboring sulcal boundaries. Its anatomical identification is distinct from a claim that one sharply bounded language function resides entirely within it.

The pars opercularis is the posterior opercular part of the inferior frontal gyrus. It participates in networks involving language and action, but its contribution depends on task and connections. An anatomical label and a functional activation contrast answer different questions.

Cortical regions anterior to motor and premotor territories, involved in diverse control, representational and task-dependent processes. An observed delay signal must be interpreted using its content and task context.

The ventromedial prefrontal cortex is a regional designation for ventral and medial prefrontal territories. Studies relate parts of this region to valuation, autonomic regulation and context-sensitive behavior. Its boundaries and neuronal populations vary across the particular anatomical definition used.

Medial prefrontal regions implicated, among other functions, in control over aversive events. Rat prelimbic and infralimbic subdivisions do not map one-to-one onto every human clinical construct.

A lateral prefrontal region studied extensively in delayed-response tasks. Activity can carry remembered stimulus and anticipated response information; a task must separate them before assigning a uniquely mnemonic function.