Artificial Consciousness/Neural Correlates/Inter-Organ Connection Models/DorsoLateral Prefrontal Cortex Connections

DorsoLateral PreFrontal Cortex Connections
Depending on interpretation the DorsoLateral PFC is either limited to 2 or 3 brodman areas or may encompass 6 or 7 brodman areas. It is connected to the OrbitoFrontal PFC, the Basal Ganglia, the Thalamus, the Hippocampus, and primary and secondary associative cortexes of the different sensory modalities.

It is thought that the DorsoLateral PFC is the primary motor planning area and the seat of the Working Memory. This is the area of the brain that when damaged during stroke, and accident causes loss of executive function. One aspect of this type of disfunction is that while people who have it can discuss the relative merits of their choices, they tend to make the choices for immediate gain against their own understanding of the situation. The high reliance on Dopamine suggests that the role of this area is again to suppress competing responses, and select the best response from the options.

The high incidence of impulsivity in people with depressed dopamine balances, such as are suspected in ADD and ADHD, and people with executive dysfunction, suggests that suppression of competition among alternatives is the operative mode, and that at least a portion of the input is impulsive options.

In all probability the ability to delay gratification is dependent on this function.

While we are not sure exactly how this area of the brain works, we think it has something to do with Top-down attention. However the linkage to the thalamus suggests a role for bottom-up attention as well.