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Social and Nonsocial Functions of Rostral Prefrontal Cortex: Implications for Education
Author(s) -
Gilbert Sam J.,
Burgess Paul W.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
mind, brain, and education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.624
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1751-228X
pISSN - 1751-2271
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-228x.2008.00046.x
Subject(s) - prefrontal cortex , psychology , neuropsychology , neuroimaging , cognitive psychology , functional neuroimaging , neuroscience , perception , cognition , working memory , self reference effect , executive functions , social cognition , consumer neuroscience
— In this article, we discuss the role of rostral prefrontal cortex (approximating Brodmann Area 10) in two domains relevant to education: executive function (particularly prospective memory, our ability to realize delayed intentions) and social cognition (particularly our ability to reflect on our own mental states and the mental states of others). We review evidence from neuropsychology and neuroimaging suggesting the involvement of rostral prefrontal cortex in these domains and discuss an overarching framework that seeks to characterize these functions in terms of attentional selection between perceptual and self‐generated information. In addition, we present neuroimaging evidence in adults suggesting considerable functional specialization within this region. We conclude by discussing implications of these results for education and suggest directions for further research.