Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Dissociation in prefrontal cortex of affective and attentional shifts

Nature volume 380, pages 69–72 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

THE prefrontal cortex is implicated in such human characteristics as volition, planning, abstract reasoning and affect1–6. Frontal-lobe damage can cause disinhibition such that the behaviour of a subject is guided by previously acquired responses that are inappropriate to the current situation7–9. Here we demonstrate that disinhibition, or a loss of inhibitory control, can be selective for particular cognitive functions and that different regions of the prefrontal cortex provide inhibitory control in different aspects of cognitive processing. Thus, whereas damage to the lateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann's area 9) in monkeys causes a loss of inhibitory control in attentional selection, damage to the orbito-frontal cortex in monkeys causes a loss of inhibitory control in 'affective' processing, thereby impairing the ability to alter behaviour in response to fluctuations in the emotional significance of stimuli. These findings not only support the view that the prefrontal cortex has multiple functions, but also provide evidence for the distribution of different cognitive functions within specific regions of prefrontal cortex.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Fuster, J. M. The Prefrontal Cortex 2nd edn (Raven, New York, 1989).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Damasio, A. R. Descartes' Error. Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain (Putnam, New York, 1994).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Goldman-Rakic, P. S. in Handbook of Physiology: the Nervous System. Vol. 5 (ed. Plum, F. & Mountcastle V.) 373–417 (American Physiological Society, Bethesda, 1987).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Passingham, R. The Frontal Lobes and Voluntary Action (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1993).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Petrides, M. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B246, 293–298 (1991).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Shallice, T. in From Neuropsychology to Mental Structure 328–350 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1988).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Milner, B. Archs Neurol. 9, 100–110 (1963).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Mishkin, M. in The Frontal Granular Cortex and Behaviour (ed. Warren, J. M. & Akert, K.) 219–294 (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1964).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Iversen, S. D. & Mishkin, M. Expl Brain Res. 11, 376–386 (1970).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Wilson, F. A. W., O Scalaidhe, S. P. & Goldman-Rakic, P. S. Science 260, 1955–1957 (1993).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Roberts, A. C., Robbins, T. W. & Everitt, B. J. Q. J. exp. Psychol. 40, 321–341 (1988).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Owen, A. M. et al. Brain 116, 1159–1175 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Sutherland, N. S. & Mackintosh, N. J. Mechanisms of Animal Discrimination Learning (Academic, New York, 1971).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Nauta, W. J. H. J. Psychiat. Res. 8, 167–187 (1971).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Amaral, D. G., Price, J. L., Pitkanen, A. & Carmichael, S. T. in The Amygdala (ed. Aggleton, J. P.) 1–66 (Wiley-Liss, New York, 1993).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Roberts, A. C. et al. J. Neuroscience 14, 2531–2544 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Brodmann, K. Vergleichende Lokalisationslehre der Groß-hirnrinde (Barth, Leipzig 1909).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Preuss, T. M. & Goldman-Rakic, P. S. J. comp. Neurol. 310, 429–474 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. A. C. Roberts

    Present address: Dept of Anatomy, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, UK

  2. A. C. Roberts: To whom correspondence should be addressed at the Department of Anatomy.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK

    R. Dias, T. W. Robbins & A. C. Roberts

Authors
  1. R. Dias
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. T. W. Robbins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. A. C. Roberts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dias, R., Robbins, T. & Roberts, A. Dissociation in prefrontal cortex of affective and attentional shifts. Nature 380, 69–72 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/380069a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/380069a0

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing
pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy