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Abstract

It is the aim of the present thesis to show that a previously neglected area in the lateral frontal lobe is consistently involved in cognitive control processes. This area is located at the junction of the inferior frontal sulcus and the inferior precentral sulcus and, owing to its location at the junction of these sulci was termed "inferior frontal junction area (IFJ)" by Brass and von Cramon (2002). This thesis will provide evidence for the important role of the IFJ in cognitive control by reporting the results of a within-subject functional imaging study that investigated the involvement of the IFJ in three different cognitive control paradigms. Furthermore, it will report the results of two quanititative meta-analyses of imaging studies. These meta-analyses aimed at further substantiating the results gained in the imaging study. In the discussion, I will critically question the results presented in teh empirical part of this thesis. Furthermore, the discussion tries to uncover the dytoarchitectonic basis of the IFJ and its putative anatomical connections. Also, I will present a new model of human and macaque sulcal homologies in the lateral frontal cortex that is argued to overcome questionable aspects of an older model. Finally, I will discuss the functional role of the IFJ in relationship to other imaging studies and physiological results gained from studies with monkeys. But first of all, I begin with some information on the theoretical background of this work.