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.

Spatial selectivity in human ventrolateral prefrontal cortex

Nature Neuroscience volume 8, pages 415–417 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

The functional organization of lateral prefrontal cortex is not well understood, and there is debate as to whether the dorsal and ventral aspects mediate distinct spatial and non-spatial functions, respectively. We show for the first time that recordings from human ventrolateral prefrontal cortex show spatial selectivity, supporting the idea that ventrolateral prefrontal cortex is involved in spatial processing. Our results also indicate that prefrontal cortex may be a source of control signals for neuroprosthetic applications.

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

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

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

Figure 1: Human ventrolateral PFC shows spatial selectivity during target presentation.
Figure 2: Human ventrolateral PFC shows spatial selectivity during the movement period.
Figure 3: Using bilateral recordings improves decoding accuracy.

References

  1. Miller, E.K. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 1, 59–65 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Fuster, J.M., Bodner, M. & Kroger, J.K. Nature 405, 347–351 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Funahashi, S., Chafee, M.V. & Goldman-Rakic, P.S. Nature 365, 753–756 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Leung, H.C., Gore, J.C. & Goldman-Rakic, P.S. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 14, 659–671 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. O'Scalaidhe, S.P., Wilson, F.A. & Goldman-Rakic, P.S. Science 278, 1135–1138 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Wilson, F.A., O'Scalaidhe, S.P. & Goldman-Rakic, P.S. Science 260, 1955–1958 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Courtney, S., Ungerleider, L., Keil, K. & Haxby, J. Cereb. Cortex 6, 39–49 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Rao, S.C., Rainer, G. & Miller, E.K. Science 276, 821–824 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Deco, G., Rolls, E.T. & Horwitz, B. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 16, 683–701 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Goodale, M.A. & Milner, A.D. Trends Neurosci. 15, 20–25 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Toth, L.J. & Assad, J.A. Nature 415, 165–168 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Sabes, P.N., Breznen, B. & Andersen, R.A. J. Neurosci. 88, 1815–1829 (2002).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Mehring, C. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 6, 1253–1254 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Pesaran, B., Pezaris, J.S., Sahani, M., Mitra, P.P. & Andersen, R.A. Nat. Neurosci. 5, 805–811 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Leuthardt, E.C., Schalk, G., Wolpaw, J.R., Ojemann, J.G. & Moran, D.W. J. Neural Eng. 1, 63–71 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank S. Musallam, A. Gail, B. Pesaran and H. Glidden for helpful discussion. The authors acknowledge support from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, National Eye Institute, the Boswell Foundation, Office of Naval Research and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Blvd., Pasadena, 91125, California, USA

    Daniel S Rizzuto, Adam N Mamelak, Igor Fineman & Richard A Andersen

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Huntington Memorial Hospital, 100 West California Blvd., Pasadena, 91105, California, USA

    Adam N Mamelak & Igor Fineman

  3. Epilepsy and Brain Mapping Program, Huntington Memorial Hospital, 100 West California Blvd., Pasadena, 91105, California, USA

    Adam N Mamelak & William W Sutherling

Authors
  1. Daniel S Rizzuto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Adam N Mamelak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. William W Sutherling
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Igor Fineman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Richard A Andersen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rizzuto, D., Mamelak, A., Sutherling, W. et al. Spatial selectivity in human ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. Nat Neurosci 8, 415–417 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1424

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1424

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