Glossary
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
What is the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex?
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) is part of the brain networks involved in working memory, planning, cognitive flexibility, and controlling responses.
Where is the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex?
It lies on the upper lateral part of the prefrontal cortex, toward the front of the brain. The National Library of Medicine’s anatomical definition includes front portions of the superior and middle frontal gyri. Researchers may draw its boundaries differently.
What does the dlPFC do?
Miller and Cohen’s influential theory describes how maintaining a goal can guide processing elsewhere in the brain. The dlPFC participates in this kind of control: keeping relevant information available while we decide what to do.
Think of a chess player holding several possible moves in mind and resisting an attractive move that would spoil the plan. That calls on working memory and other control processes working together.
What injury studies show
In a study by Barbey, Koenigs, and Grafman, veterans with dlPFC injuries had difficulty with some tasks requiring information to be manipulated, including mental arithmetic. Yet the study did not find reliable deficits in their simple forward digit- or spatial-span performance. Holding information briefly and working on that information are related but distinguishable demands.
The result suggests a role in specific executive processes, rather than a single region responsible for every aspect of control. The effects of an injury depend on what tissue and connections are affected; this study involved a specific group of adults with penetrating head injuries.
Why it matters
Planning depends on keeping a goal active while other possibilities compete for attention. The dlPFC contributes to that work as part of a wider network.