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Krasnow Institute > Monday Seminars > Abstracts The Prefrontal Cortex: A Comparative Perspective Ivan Divac 1. Functional imaging in humans confirms what has been suspected for a long time: Functions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) are highly complex. 2. One way to reduce this complexity is to compare human PFC with "the same" structure in other species. These comparisons could provide hints about the evolution of PFC. 3. The obvious problem is how to ensure "the sameness" of the PFC in the species that should be compared. Several definitions of PFC will be discussed. 4. Review of some data will lead to the conclusion that PFC can be found in all mammals and at least some birds. Therefore, PFC is not a recent evolutionary achievement. Its complex functions in humans are developed in parallel with increased sophistication of other cortical areas, e. g. visual.
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