Caption
Functional sub-regions of the frontal lobe of the brain. The frontal lobe constructs and controls our more complex behaviours such as decision-taking, creativity and analogical reasoning, the generation of voluntary behaviours and the organisation of language. In this part of the brain researchers have identified twelve cerebral areas dedicated to different functions, from the simplest, such as motor skills, to the most complex, such as social behaviour. The function of each of these areas depends on the nature of its cerebral connections. To explore the organisation of the frontal lobes according to their architecture and their connectivity, researchers used diffusion MRI tractography to monitor the white fibres (neuronal axons that transmit nerve signals) and thus cerebral connectivity; they also took advantage of Big Data to analyse several banks of human brain imaging data. Deciphering this architectural organisation will enhance the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases and our understanding of how the nervous system develops.
