title: Damage to the fronto-polar cortex is associated with impaired multitasking.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A major question in understanding the functional organization of the brain is to delineate the functional divisions of the prefrontal cortex. Of particular importance to the cognitive capacities that are uniquely human is the fronto-polar cortex (Brodmann's area 10), which is disproportionally larger in humans relative to the rest of the brain than it is in the ape's brain. The specific function of this brain region remains poorly understood, but recent neuroimaging studies have proposed that it may hold goals in mind while exploring and processing secondary goals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here we show that the extent of damage to the fronto-polar cortex predicts impairment in the management of multiple goals. This result reveals that the integrity of the fronto-polar cortex is necessary to perform tasks that require subjects to maintain a primary goal in mind while processing secondary goals, an ability which is crucial for complex human cognitive abilities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results provide important new insights concerning the cerebral basis of complex human cognition such as planning and multitasking.
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America. dreher@isc.cnrs.fr
authors.forename: Jean-Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Dreher
authors.forename: Etienne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Koechlin
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tierney
authors.forename: Jordan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grafman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002540:Cerebral Cortex; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests
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