The Prefrontal Cortex, One Of The Most Interesting Parts Of The Brain

The prefrontal cortex is the most sophisticated sign of our brain’s evolution. It was the last brain region to develop from an evolutionary standpoint. It shows the phylogenetic progress and a complete developmental physiology.

The prefrontal cortex is easy to recognize. It is very wrinkled and full of folds. It is the part of the brain closest to our face. This is where all our most complex mental and cognitive processes take place.

One of the goals of neuropsychology is to understand the complex relationship between the brain and behavior. So it should come as no surprise that the prefrontal cortex is one of the most interesting areas of the brain.

However, it is also one of the most essential parts of the brain to understand our capacity for abstract thinking and our self-awareness. In other words, this is the brain structure that makes us truly human.

Scientists call these sophisticated commands in the prefrontal cortex “executive functions.” There is a specific reason for this. After all, it is the part of the brain that helps you distinguish between good and bad. This part of the brain helps you to assess your environment and to exercise control over your own thoughts.

The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that develops last

Parents often complain about how difficult it is for their teenage children to understand things. They cannot control their impulses and do not think enough before they act. Parents complain because they don’t realize that prefrontal cortex development isn’t finished until you’re 20 to 25 years old.

It is true that teenage children resemble ‘young’ adults. However, it is very important to remember that teen brains are still very immature. The human brain actually develops from the neck up.

This means that the prefrontal cortex is the last brain area to start developing. So we don’t develop the most refined and valuable abilities of our species until later.

However, this does not mean that children and teens cannot make decisions until they are twenty. They do and sometimes they even do it well. You just have to remember that the development of the more complex skills develops year after year. The more incentives, challenges, supports and opportunities you give this cognitive evolution, the better the outcome.

This is also why you should always try to be understanding with children of this age. Time, patience, understanding and good advice are ultimately the only things they need.

The parts of the prefrontal cortex

The prefrontal cortex is our sophisticated control center. It is an extremely complex area with connections to several other brain regions.

Structures such as the hippocampus, the thalamus and other brain lobes have a direct line of communication with the prefrontal cortex. These channels are places where we constantly send and receive information.

We will now look at how the prefrontal cortex is split up:

• The orbitofrontal cortex. This part has to do with our social behavior and decision making.
• The dorsolateral cortex. This is absolutely an essential part of human beings. It gives us the ability to plan, set goals, memorize, and think. Neuroscientists have even developed a theory that this is the brain region where consciousness resides.
• The ventromedial cortex. This part of the brain has to do with our perception and the expression of our emotions.

What does the prefrontal cortex do?

Several years ago, scientists at the University of Missouri explained why the prefrontal cortex is so much larger than the prefrontal cortex of other species on Earth. According to them, this happened as a result of demographic pressure.

This basically means that the more people that entered our worldview, the better we became at interacting and communicating.

All this, all these social, cognitive and emotional experiences have led to a more developed prefrontal cortex. We will now show you exactly what this special brain part does.

• It coordinates and adjusts our social behavior.
• This cortex helps you control impulses and process emotions.
• This is also the area where many processes associated with our personality occur. It’s things like being more shy, brave, more open to experience, and so on.
• Motivation, excitement, and feeling of energy to achieve a goal also come from the prefrontal cortex.
• It helps us focus, organize difficult information and plan.
• This is also where the working memory is located. It includes all the cognitive skills we use to retain information when we experience or do new things.

brain damage

All these features are important. So you can probably already guess how terrible damage to the prefrontal cortex is. There are people who have experienced brain trauma, neural decline or developmental problems in this area of ​​the brain.

Often they have a hard time controlling their behavior, planning, deciding things, creating something and so on.

They also tend to think in a straightforward way. They often exhibit antisocial behavior as well. These are sensitive, complex situations. They are further proof of how important this part of the brain is to how we exist as human beings.