Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex explained

Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex
Ispartof:Prefrontal cortex
Components:Anterior cingulate cortex, prelimbic cortex

The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC or DMPFC is a section of the prefrontal cortex in some species' brain anatomy. It includes portions of Brodmann areas BA8, BA9, BA10, BA24 and BA32, although some authors identify it specifically with BA8 and BA9.[1] [2] Some notable sub-components include the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (BA24 and BA32), the prelimbic cortex,[3] [4] and the infralimbic cortex.[5]

Functions

Evidence shows that the dmPFC plays several roles in humans. The dmPFC is identified to play roles in processing a sense of self, integrating social impressions, theory of mind, morality judgments, empathy, decision making, altruism, fear and anxiety information processing, and top-down motor cortex inhibition. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] The dmPFC also modulates or regulates emotional responses and heart rate in situations of fear or stress and plays a role in long-term memory .[11] Some argue that the dmPFC is made up of several smaller subregions that are more task-specific.[12] The dmPFC is attributed with many roles in the brain. Despite this, there is no definitive understanding of the exact role dmPFC plays, and the underlying mechanisms giving rise to its function(s) in the brain remain to be seen.

Identity

The dmPFC is thought to be one component of how people formulate an identity, or a sense of self[6] [13] When actors were tasked with performing a character, fMRI scans showed relative suppression of the dmPFC compared to baseline tasks.[14] This same deactivation was not seen in the other tasks performed by the actors. The authors theorize that this may be due to the actors actively suppressing their own sense of self to portray another character. Similarly, the dmPFC has been shown to be inactive in individuals with psychological disassociation.[13]

Social judgments and theory of mind

Research has indicated that the dmPFC plays a role in creating social impressions.[7] One study showed that by using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to the dmPFC during a social judgment task directly disrupts a person's ability to form social judgments.[7] Additionally, the dmPFC is active when people are trying to understand the perspectives, beliefs, and thoughts of others, an ability known as Theory of mind.[15] The dmPFC has also been shown to play a role in altruism. The amount that a person's dmPFC was active during a socially-based task predicted how much money that person would later donate to others.[9] Furthermore, the dmPFC has been shown to be play a role in morality decisions.[16]

Emotion

The dmPFC has been shown to be involved in voluntary and involuntary emotional regulation.[17] [18] When recalling negative memories, older adults show activation in the dmPFC. This is believed to act as mechanism that reduces the overall experienced negativity of the event.[17] The dmPFC is thought to be impaired in individuals diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder resulting in disrupted emotional regulation.[18]

Decision making

In addition to social judgments, the dmPFC shows increased activation during complex decision making tasks.[19] Other studies have shown increased activation in the dmPFC when a person must decide between two equally-likely outcomes, as well as when a decision is counter to their behavioral tendencies.[20] [21]

Other species

The DMPFC can also be identified in monkeys.[22] The prelimbic system in mice is believed to be functionally analogous to the dmPFC's emotional regulation function in humans.[23]

Animal models

In rats, the dmPFC has been shown to exert top-down control over the motor regions, although the exact mechanisms of how this is accomplished remain unknown.[8] Another study looked at how dopamine receptors in the dmPFC play a role in regulating fear in rats.[24]

An experiment with mice found that optogenetic stimulation of the dmPFC increased their perseverance, motivational drive and grit causing them to assume a more dominant role in social hierarchies.[25] Additionally, researchers have shown that the dmPFC 5-HT6 receptors play a role in regulating anxiety-like behaviors in mice.[26]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Lieberman, M.D. . Social: Why Our Brains are Wired to Connect . OUP Oxford . 2013 . 978-0-19-964504-6 . 187.
  2. Book: Dougherty . D.D. . Rauch . S.L. . Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research: Contemporary Strategies . American Psychiatric Publishing . 2008 . 978-1-58562-790-5 . 243.
  3. Book: Corsi . P.S. . Christen . Y. . Epigenetics, Brain and Behavior . Springer . Research and Perspectives in Neurosciences . 2012 . 978-3-642-27912-6 . 1 May 2019 . 88.
  4. Book: Leary . M.R. . Tangney . J.P. . Handbook of Self and Identity . Guilford Publications . 2012 . 978-1-4625-0305-6 . 2 May 2019 . 640.
  5. Gamond . L. . Cattaneo . Z. . The Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex Plays a Causal Role in Mediating In-group Advantage in Emotion Recognition: A TMS Study . Neuropsychologia . Elsevier . 2016 . 93 . Pt A . 312–317 . 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.11.011 . 27865968 . 207240951 .
  6. Gusnard DA, Akbudak E, Shulman GL, Raichle ME . Medial prefrontal cortex and self-referential mental activity: relation to a default mode of brain function . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 98 . 7 . 4259–64 . March 2001 . 11259662 . 31213 . 10.1073/pnas.071043098 . free .
  7. Ferrari C, Lega C, Vernice M, Tamietto M, Mende-Siedlecki P, Vecchi T, Todorov A, Cattaneo Z . The Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex Plays a Causal Role in Integrating Social Impressions from Faces and Verbal Descriptions . Cerebral Cortex . 26 . 1 . 156–65 . January 2016 . 25165063 . 10.1093/cercor/bhu186 . free . 2318/1506221 . free .
  8. Narayanan NS, Laubach M . Top-down control of motor cortex ensembles by dorsomedial prefrontal cortex . Neuron . 52 . 5 . 921–31 . December 2006 . 17145511 . 3995137 . 10.1016/j.neuron.2006.10.021 .
  9. Waytz A, Zaki J, Mitchell JP . Response of dorsomedial prefrontal cortex predicts altruistic behavior . The Journal of Neuroscience. 32 . 22 . 7646–50 . May 2012 . 22649243 . 3387686 . 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.6193-11.2012 .
  10. Mitchell JP, Macrae CN, Banaji MR . Encoding-specific effects of social cognition on the neural correlates of subsequent memory . The Journal of Neuroscience. 24 . 21 . 4912–7 . May 2004 . 15163682 . 6729362 . 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0481-04.2004 .
  11. Book: Jean Decety J, Batson CD. Interpersonal Sensitivity – Entering Others' Worlds. 2007. Psychology Press. 978-1-84169-838-0. 243.
  12. Eickhoff SB, Laird AR, Fox PT, Bzdok D, Hensel L . Functional Segregation of the Human Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex . Cerebral Cortex . 26 . 1 . 304–21 . January 2016 . 25331597 . 4677979 . 10.1093/cercor/bhu250 .
  13. Book: Meares R. A Dissociation Model of Borderline Personality Disorder (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology). 22 October 2012. W. W. Norton. 978-0-393-70861-5. 109.
  14. Brown S, Cockett P, Yuan Y . The neuroscience of Romeo and Juliet: an fMRI study of acting . Royal Society Open Science . 6 . 3 . 181908 . March 2019 . 31032043 . 6458376 . 10.1098/rsos.181908 .
  15. Isoda M, Noritake A . What makes the dorsomedial frontal cortex active during reading the mental states of others? . Frontiers in Neuroscience . 7 . 232 . December 2013 . 24367287 . 3852025 . 10.3389/fnins.2013.00232 . free .
  16. Bzdok D, Schilbach L, Vogeley K, Schneider K, Laird AR, Langner R, Eickhoff SB . Parsing the neural correlates of moral cognition: ALE meta-analysis on morality, theory of mind, and empathy . Brain Structure & Function . 217 . 4 . 783–96 . October 2012 . 22270812 . 3445793 . 10.1007/s00429-012-0380-y .
  17. Ford JH, Kensinger EA . Older adults recruit dorsomedial prefrontal cortex to decrease negativity during retrieval of emotionally complex real-world events . Neuropsychologia . 135 . 107239 . December 2019 . 31678107 . 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107239 . 204964109 .
  18. Phillips ML, Ladouceur CD, Drevets WC . A neural model of voluntary and automatic emotion regulation: implications for understanding the pathophysiology and neurodevelopment of bipolar disorder . Molecular Psychiatry . 13 . 9 . 829, 833–57 . September 2008 . 18574483 . 2745893 . 10.1038/mp.2008.65 .
  19. Venkatraman V, Rosati AG, Taren AA, Huettel SA . Resolving response, decision, and strategic control: evidence for a functional topography in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex . The Journal of Neuroscience. 29 . 42 . 13158–64 . October 2009 . 19846703 . 2801415 . 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2708-09.2009 .
  20. Pochon JB, Riis J, Sanfey AG, Nystrom LE, Cohen JD . Functional imaging of decision conflict . The Journal of Neuroscience. 28 . 13 . 3468–73 . March 2008 . 18367612 . 6670602 . 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4195-07.2008 .
  21. Paulus MP, Hozack N, Frank L, Brown GG . Error rate and outcome predictability affect neural activation in prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate during decision-making . NeuroImage . 15 . 4 . 836–46 . April 2002 . 11906224 . 10.1006/nimg.2001.1031 . 18634899 .
  22. Book: Brookhart . J.M. . Mountcastle . V.B. . Brooks . V.B. . Geiger . S.R. . Handbook of physiology: a critical, comprehensive presentation of physiological knowledge and concepts . American Physiological Society . 1981 . 978-0-683-01105-0 .
  23. Book: Acton, Q.A. . Advances in Basal Ganglia Research and Application . Atlanta, GA . ScholarlyEditions . 2013 . 978-1-4816-6955-9 . 1 May 2019 . 20.
  24. Stubbendorff C, Hale E, Cassaday HJ, Bast T, Stevenson CW . Dopamine D1-like receptors in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex regulate contextual fear conditioning . Psychopharmacology . 236 . 6 . 1771–1782 . June 2019 . 30656366 . 6602997 . 10.1007/s00213-018-5162-7 .
  25. Zhou . Tingting . Zhu . Hong . Fan . Zhengxiao . Wang . Fei . Chen . Yang . Liang . Hexing . Yang . Zhongfei . Zhang . Lu . Lin . Longnian . Zhan . Yang . Wang . Zheng . Hu . Hailan . 14 July 2017 . History of winning remodels thalamo-PFC circuit to reinforce social dominance . . 357 . 6347 . 162–168 . 10.1126/science.aak9726 . free .
  26. Geng F, Tian J, Wu JL, Luo Y, Zou WJ, Peng C, Lu GF . Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex 5-HT6 receptors regulate anxiety-like behavior . Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience . 18 . 1 . 58–67 . February 2018 . 29204799 . 10.3758/s13415-017-0552-6 . free .

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