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Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology pp 1216–1220Cite as

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex

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Structure

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is located on the convexity of the prefrontal cortex, superior to orbital frontal cortex and anterior to the premotor cortex. Architectonically, it is composed of granular neurons distinct from the pyramidal cells of the adjacent motor cortex. The DLPFC includes at least Brodmann areas 9 and 46, the areas that are homologous to those surrounding the principal sulcus in lower primates, which have been shown to be important in working memory (WM) function (see below). Some researchers include other frontal zones in the DLPFC, including parts of Brodmann areas 8 through 12, 45, 46, and 47, though 44, 45, and 47/12 have also been characterized as ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (Diamond 2002).

Dendrites in the DLPFC reach full maturity by the age of 12 months, plateauing in length until at least age 27 years (Diamond 2002). Glucose metabolism also reaches adult levels by 12 months. However, synaptic density continues to decrease,...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Butler Hospital Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Nicole C. R. McLaughlin

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Paul Malloy

Authors
  1. Nicole C. R. McLaughlin
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  2. Paul Malloy
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Correspondence to Nicole C. R. McLaughlin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Jeffrey S. Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation, Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Independent Practice, Wynnewood, PA, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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McLaughlin, N.C.R., Malloy, P. (2018). Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1887

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