Smith E E, Jonides J
Department of Psychology, Mental Health Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1109, USA.
Science. 1999 Mar 12;283(5408):1657-61. doi: 10.1126/science.283.5408.1657.
The human frontal cortex helps mediate working memory, a system that is used for temporary storage and manipulation of information and that is involved in many higher cognitive functions. Working memory includes two components: short-term storage (on the order of seconds) and executive processes that operate on the contents of storage. Recently, these two components have been investigated in functional neuroimaging studies. Studies of storage indicate that different frontal regions are activated for different kinds of information: storage for verbal materials activates Broca's area and left-hemisphere supplementary and premotor areas; storage of spatial information activates the right-hemisphere premotor cortex; and storage of object information activates other areas of the prefrontal cortex. Two of the fundamental executive processes are selective attention and task management. Both processes activate the anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
人类额叶皮层有助于调节工作记忆，这是一个用于临时存储和处理信息的系统，并且涉及许多高级认知功能。工作记忆包括两个组成部分：短期存储（以秒为单位）和对存储内容进行操作的执行过程。最近，这两个组成部分已在功能神经影像学研究中得到研究。关于存储的研究表明，不同的额叶区域针对不同类型的信息被激活：言语材料的存储激活布洛卡区以及左半球辅助运动区和运动前区；空间信息的存储激活右半球运动前皮层；物体信息的存储激活前额叶皮层的其他区域。两个基本的执行过程是选择性注意和任务管理。这两个过程都会激活前扣带回和背外侧前额叶皮层。
