Meet your brain! It’s made up of four major lobes: the frontal lobe, the parietal lobe, the occipital lobe, and the temporal lobe. The frontal lobe is covered by the frontal cortex – you can think of this area as being your brain’s command centre. It is responsible for many important functions, and plays a role in orchestrating some of our most advanced behaviours.
But, just how much influence does our frontal cortex have on our behaviour? Let’s find out …
The Anatomy of the Frontal Cortex
The Prefrontal Cortex
This area of the brain has been linked to attention, working memory, and higher level executive tasks, such as problem-solving, planning, organising, cognitive reasoning, decision-making, and goal attainment (Miller and Cohen, 2001).
Orbitofrontal Cortex
Part of the prefrontal cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex often plays an inhibitory role in our behaviour. It’s our impulse control mechanism, playing an inhibitory role to prevent inappropriate behaviour during social interactions and also processing rewards and punishments. The orbitofrontal cortex has been shown to be impacted by stress levels, with higher feelings of stress linked to greater impulsivity.
Ventromedial Cortex
Another part of the prefrontal cortex, the ventromedial cortex holds an important role in processing and regulating emotions (more so than the limbic system), impacting our behaviour, physiological responses, and emotional reactions to different social situations.
Anterior Cingulate Cortex
The anterior cingulate cortex plays a role in self-awareness and conflict monitoring (it’s shown to be most active when processing self-relevant conflicting information; Wang et al., 2016), as well as being involved in pain processing (including the anticipation of pain).
The Motor Cortex
The motor cortex consists of the primary motor cortex, the premotor cortex, and the supplementary motor area. This area of the brain is involved in the planning, control and execution of our voluntary movements, including sequences of movements and coordination of different body parts.
Broca’s Area
Broca’s area is linked to language processing and speech production. Whilst its specific role is not fully understood yet, damage to this area of the brain (known as Broca’s aphasia) has been linked to poor grammar, difficulty forming complete sentences, omission of linking words, difficulty articulating sounds and words, and struggles with reading, writing, and comprehension.
Frontal Cortex Development
Ever wonder why teenagers can be so impulsive, emotional and argumentative at times? I think the frontal cortex might be able to explain …
In adolescents, the frontal cortex is not yet fully developed – in fact, it’s one of the very last parts of the brain to reach adult levels, thought to mature fully in our mid-twenties. As the region of the brain that’s responsible for our ability to plan ahead, organise, regulate our emotions, self-monitor and control impulses this can make things tough for our teenagers as they struggle to make the ‘best’, most mature choices.
Whilst this late development of such a crucial brain region might seem counterproductive at first glance, Robert Sapolsky (Behave, 2017) suggests that it actually serves an important adaptive function. By reaching peak maturity way beyond our earliest years, the frontal cortex leaves plenty of room for us to learn from our experiences (rather than being shaped purely by our pre-programmed genetic make-up). This has enabled us to evolve into a species that is incredibly complex, socially resilient, and unique, as well as being sculpted by the context we’re living in.
Our teenagers are learning lessons from their (sometimes seemingly poor!) decisions and life experiences, and this is shaping their frontal cortices for the future, as well as their individual personalities and unique responses to the world around them.
Everyday Behaviours
You’ve heard about the huge role that the frontal cortex plays generally, as the ‘command centre’ of the brain, but what might this look like in terms of influencing our behaviour on a daily basis?
Decision-Making
The frontal cortex helps us to weigh up the pros and cons of a decision before we make it, so that we can select options with the highest value and most satisfying potential outcome. It can also allow us to carefully consider long-term consequences versus immediate rewards. Using fMRI, research has shown (Luerrsen et al., 2015) that the prefrontal cortex is more active when we choose delayed rewards over immediate gratification (whereas emotional centres, such as the limbic system, dominate when we impulsively opt for immediate rewards).
Planning and Organisation
The frontal cortex can help us to work towards our goals, both in the long and short-term. It’s responsible for executive control (including our attention, working memory, and problem-solving), allowing us to plan, coordinate and select goal-directed behaviours.
Self-Regulation
Self-regulation of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours is supported by the frontal cortex. Research has shown that the capacity to resist temptation and cravings (particularly when something appears to be the easier choice … even if it might not be the better choice!) may depend on the activity level of the right frontal cortex (Knoch & Fehr, 2007), with resistance to immediate self-interest often greatly impaired in those who experience damage to this area of the brain. Areas of the prefrontal cortex have also been shown to be activated during motor inhibitory control, cognitive inhibition, thought suppression, and emotion regulation (Tabibnia et al., 2014)
Social Behaviour
The Ultimatum Game is a psychological experiment in which one player (the proposer) is ‘given’ an amount of money and the opportunity to offer part of it to another player (the responder). If the responder chooses to accept, the money is split accordingly. If the responder rejects the offer, both players receive nothing. During this game, areas of the prefrontal cortex are activated, highlighting its role in evaluating fairness in social interactions, fostering empathy and cooperative behavior. The frontal cortex allows us to make moral decisions, balancing self-interest with societal norms and expectations.
Strengthen your Frontal Cortex
It is possible to strengthen your frontal cortex, with research showing that specific practices can increase cortical thickness in the prefrontal cortex and connectivity between different regions in the brain (Calderone et al., 2024). Here are some activities that can help to give your frontal cortex a boost:
- Engaging in regular mindfulness and meditative practices
- Cognitive training (including activities that challenge your working memory, attention and problem-solving skills).
- Aiming for a healthy lifestyle – regular physical exercise, good sleep hygiene, support with stress management and eating a balanced diet.
- Neurofeedback and other therapeutic interventions
Our frontal cortex is an impressive region of our brain that equips us to better navigate our emotions, behaviour and decision-making. If you’re interested in learning more about how your brain can impact your behaviour, as well as learning how to create new habits for a more fulfilling life, have a read of my previous article ‘The Neuropsychology of Lifestyle Medicine’. You can also visit our Neuropsychology page to understand more about the service we offer our clients.
References
Calderone, D., Kaplan, B., & Fitzgerald, P. B. (2024). Enhancing prefrontal cortex function through transcranial stimulation: Insights into mental health interventions. Biomedicines, 12(11), 2613. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/12/11/2613 [Accessed 16 December 2024].
Knoch, D., & Fehr, E. (2007). Resisting the influence of short-term impulses: The role of the right prefrontal cortex in intertemporal choice. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 31(5), 725–732.
Luerrsen, A. R., Britton, W. B., & Bootzin, R. R. (2015). Neural mechanisms of mindfulness and emotional control. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, Article 204. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4666116/ [Accessed 16 December 2024].
Miller, E. K., & Cohen, J. D. (2001). An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 24(1), 167–202.
Sapolsky, R. M. (2017). Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst. New York: Penguin Press.
Tabibnia, G., Satpute, A. B., & Lieberman, M. D. (2014). The sunny side of fairness: Preference for fairness activates reward circuitry (and disregarding unfairness activates self-control circuitry). Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, Article 379. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4255331/ [Accessed 16 December 2024].
Wang, F., Peng, K., Bai, Y., Li, R., Zhu, Y., Sun, P., Guo, H., Yuan, C., Rotshtein, P., & Sui, J. (2016). The Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex Modulates Dialectical Self-Thinking. Front. Psychology, 7:152.
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