Assem Moataz, Shashidhara Sneha, Glasser Matthew, Duncan John
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, CB2 7EF, Cambridge, UK.
Centre for Social and Behaviour Change, Ashoka University, Sonipat, 131029, India.
Neuropsychologia. 2025 Jul 29;214:109164. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109164. Epub 2025 May 7.
The fine-grained functional organization of the human lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) remains poorly understood. Previous fMRI studies delineated focal domain-general, or multiple-demand (MD), PFC areas that co-activate during diverse cognitively demanding tasks. While there is some evidence for category-selective (face and scene) patches, in human and non-human primate PFC, these have not been systematically assessed. Recent precision fMRI studies have also revealed sensory-biased PFC patches adjacent to MD regions. To investigate if this topographic arrangement extends to other domains, we analyzed two independent fMRI datasets (n = 449 and n = 37) utilizing the high-resolution multimodal MRI approaches of the Human Connectome Project (HCP). Both datasets included cognitive control tasks and stimuli spanning different categories: faces, places, tools and body parts. Contrasting each stimulus category against the remaining ones revealed focal interdigitated patches of activity located adjacent to core MD regions. The face and place results were robust, replicating across different executive tasks, experimental designs (block and event-related) and at the single subject level. In one dataset, where participants performed both category and sensory tasks, place patches overlapped with visually biased regions, while face patches were positioned between visual and auditory biases. Our results paint a refined view of the fine-grained functional organization of the PFC, revealing a recurring motif of interdigitated domain-specific and domain-general circuits. This organization offers new constraints for models of cognitive control, cortical specialization and development.
人类外侧前额叶皮质（PFC）的精细功能组织仍未得到充分理解。先前的功能磁共振成像（fMRI）研究描绘了在各种认知要求较高的任务中共同激活的局部全域性或多需求（MD）前额叶皮质区域。虽然在人类和非人类灵长类动物的前额叶皮质中，有一些证据表明存在类别选择性（面部和场景）斑块，但尚未对其进行系统评估。最近的精准fMRI研究还揭示了与MD区域相邻的感觉偏向性前额叶皮质斑块。为了研究这种地形排列是否扩展到其他领域，我们利用人类连接体计划（HCP）的高分辨率多模态磁共振成像方法，分析了两个独立的fMRI数据集（n = 449和n = 37）。这两个数据集都包括认知控制任务和跨越不同类别的刺激：面部、地点、工具和身体部位。将每个刺激类别与其余类别进行对比，发现了位于核心MD区域相邻位置的局部相互交错的活动斑块。面部和地点的结果很稳健，在不同的执行任务、实验设计（组块和事件相关）以及单受试者水平上都得到了重复。在一个数据集中，参与者同时执行了类别和感觉任务，地点斑块与视觉偏向区域重叠，而面部斑块则位于视觉和听觉偏向之间。我们的结果描绘了前额叶皮质精细功能组织的更精确视图，揭示了相互交错的特定领域和全域性回路的反复出现模式。这种组织为认知控制、皮质特化和发育模型提供了新的限制条件。
