Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisiologia, Università di Parma, Rete Multidisciplinare Tecnologica, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), I-43100 Parma, Italy.
Cereb Cortex. 2013 Apr;23(4):967-87. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhs096. Epub 2012 Apr 11.
We found that the ventral part of the prefrontal area 46 (46v) is connectionally heterogeneous. Specifically, the rostral part (46vr) displayed an almost exclusive and extensive intraprefrontal connectivity and extraprefrontal connections limited to area 24 and inferotemporal areas. In contrast, the caudal part (46vc) mostly displayed intraprefrontal connectivity with ventrolateral areas and robust connectivity with frontal and parietal sensorimotor areas. Based on a topographic organization of these connections, 3 fields were identified in area 46vc. A caudal field (caudal 46vc) was preferentially connected to oculomotor prearcuate (8/FEF, 45B, and 8r) and inferior parietal areas. The other 2, located more rostrally, in the bank of the principal sulcus (rostral 46vc/bank) and on the ventrolateral convexity cortex (rostral 46vc/convexity), respectively, were connected with hand/mouth-related (F5a, 44) ventral premotor areas, area SII, and the insula. However, rostral 46vc/convexity was also connected to the hand-related area AIP, whereas rostral 46vc/bank to hand/arm-related areas PFG and PG, to PGop, and to areas 11 and 24. The present data suggest a differential role in executive functions of areas 46vr and 46vc and a differential involvement of different parts of area 46vc in higher level integration for oculomotor behavior and goal-directed arm, hand, and mouth actions.
我们发现前额叶 46 区的腹侧部分（46v）在连接上具有异质性。具体来说，前部（46vr）表现出几乎独占的、广泛的前额叶内连接和仅限于 24 区和下颞区的前额叶外连接。相比之下，后部（46vc）主要表现出与腹外侧区域的前额叶内连接，以及与额顶感觉运动区域的强连接。基于这些连接的地形组织，我们在 46vc 区确定了 3 个区域。一个后部区域（后部 46vc）优先与眼球运动前弓状皮质（8/FEF、45B 和 8r）和下顶叶区域连接。另外两个位于更前部的区域，分别位于主沟的bank 和腹外侧凸面皮质（前部 46vc/bank 和前部 46vc/convexity），分别与手部/口部相关（F5a、44）前运动区、SII 区和岛叶连接。然而，前部 46vc/convexity 还与手部相关的 AIP 区连接，而前部 46vc/bank 则与手部/手臂相关的 PFG 和 PG、PGop 以及 11 区和 24 区连接。这些数据表明，46vr 和 46vc 在执行功能方面具有不同的作用，而 46vc 的不同部分在眼球运动和目标导向的手臂、手部和口部动作的高级整合中具有不同的参与。
