When Thoughts Are in a Race: Area 10 and Bipolar Disorders

Racing thought, when patients incessantly shift from one word or sentence to another while pending previous ones unfinished, is a symptom of (hypo)mania in bipolar disorders received less attention hitherto. Here, based on few evidence, we aim to unfold our hypothetical viewpoint that the frontopolar cortex that is believed to play a part in multitasking and management of competing goals might be dysfunctional in bipolar patients and may contribute in induction of flight of ideas. We then address new avenues for future research and try to encourage researchers to design more comprehensive studies to either accept or decline this proposed conjecture.

A pilot fMRI study of event-based prospective memory in healthy adults / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the neural mechanism of prospective memory(PM) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).MethodsFifteen healthy volunteers were enrolled,and all subjects were scanned with fMRI while performing the event-based PM tasks (double-task paradigm,including the ongoing task and PM task).And the image data were preprocessed and analyzed by using SPM8 software.Results ( 1 ) Compared to the control task,bilateral rostral prefrontal cortex ( x,y,z =6/- 2,54/42,- 8/- 12,t =3.71 ),right somatosensory association area ( x,y,z =14,- 62,64,t =4.64 ),superior temporal gyrus ( x,y,z =42,- 46,16,t =3.95 ) and right paracentral lobule (x,y,z =10,-22,76,t =4.01 ) were activated significantly by the ongoing task (P ＜ 0.001 ).(2) Bilateral rostral prefrontal cortex ( x,y,z =- 2/6,42/54,- 12/- 12,t =3.28) and paracentral lobule (x,y,z =- 30/10,- 22/- 22,72/76,t =4.25 ),left postcentral gyrus ( x,y,z =- 38,- 46,64,t=3.13) and middle occipital gyrus ( x,y,z =- 30,- 70,0,t =3.97 ) were activated significantly by the PM task (P ＜ 0.001 ).ConclusionRostral prefrontal cortex (BA 10 area) is the major area of prospective memory,and medial BA10 area may be involved in the monitoring of external cues.The present study supports the gateway hypotheses of prospective memory.

Corteza frontoollar humana: área 10 / Human frontpolarr cortex: area 10

The frontopolar cortex, specifically area 10, has been related to complex cognitive processes such as planning, introspection, retrospective and prospective memories, and problem solving that implies simultaneous tasks. This information has been derived from functional neuroimaging. In spite of this knowledge, the cellular organization of area 10, the neurochemistry and the connection pattern has been less established. In the present work we attempt to summarize some relevant information related to anatomical, cytoarchitectural, chemoarchitectural and connectivity of area 10. We included some observations of our group derived from postmorten human tissue. This information may be important in order to establish a structural and functional correlation in the context of the organization of the human frontal lobe.

La corteza frontopolar, y en particular, el área 10, está vinculada con procesos cognitivos muy complejos como la planeación, la introspección, la memoria retrospectiva y prospectiva, la disociación de la atención y resolución de problemas que implican tareas simultáneas. Esta información se ha derivado de estudios con neuroimagenología funcional. A pesar de lo anterior, su organización celular, neuroquímica y patrón de conexiones han sido poco reconocidos. En el presente trabajo se pretende una descripción anatomo-funcional del área 10, cubriendo aspectos anatómicos, citoarquitectónicos, quimioarquitectónicos y de conectividad. Se incluyen algunas observaciones de nuestro grupo en tejido humano postmortem. La información considerada es útil para establecer una aproximación estructural y funcional de esta área en el contexto de la organización del lóbulo frontal del humano.