Cognitive Neuroscience and the Prefrontal Cortex: Normative Development and Vulnerability to Psychopathology

This chapter considers how psychopathology can develop as a consequence of deficiencies in the prefrontal cortex's (PFC's) ability to regulate behavior and highlights how cognitive neuroscientific techniques have contributed to this area of inquiry. First, the chapter defines what is meant by the prefrontal cortex. Historical perspectives on prefrontal function as derived from early studies in experimental neuropsychology are presented. This is followed by a discussion on behaviors that are believed to be PFC-mediated. How these behaviors develop from infancy through young adulthood is explained next. The discussion of behavioral development emphasizes how cognitive neuroscientific techniques have been used to study the correspondences among the PFC's structural, neurophysiological, and functional developments. Once these normative principles of PFC development have been derived, their implications for psychopathology in the developmental period are considered.