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The prefrontal cortex is a cortical area located in the anterior frontal lobe, including several subdivisions (e.g. ventromedial, dorsolateral, orbitofrontal cortices). The prefrontal cortex functions in cognitive control (e.g. planning, attention, problem-solving, error-monitoring, decision-making, social cognition, and working memory).
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) orchestrates multifaceted light-sensitive cognitive and emotional processes. Here, Zangen et al. show mPFC neuronal encoding of environmental light intensity, and propose a pathway that may drive this encoding.
How the brain decides to persist with current action remains unclear. Here, the authors show that a prefrontal circuit utilizes contextual signals to initiate such persistent movement.
One of two anatomically and functionally characterized subpopulations of neurons in the mouse paraventricular thalamus forms a thalamo-corticothalamic loop with the infralimbic cortex that regulates arousal.
Certain lasting antidepressant effects of ketamine in a mouse model of depression depend on the restoration of dendritic spines in the prefrontal cortex.
Dopamine released in the rodent prefrontal cortex increases the signal-to-noise ratio of responses to aversive stimuli that are transmitted to the periaqueductal grey.