Lateral frontal cortical contribution to memory

Recent studies of the mnemonic effects of selective lesions within the lateral frontal cortex in the monkey have suggested that the mid-dorsolateral region may be a specialized system for the monitoring and manipulation of information within working memory. This impairment appears against a background of normal performance on several basic mnemonic tasks. By contrast, a more severe impairment follows damage to the mid-ventrolateral frontal region. Functional activation studies with normal human subjects have confirmed the suggestion from the animal work that the mid-dorsolateral region is involved in the monitoring and manipulation of information within working memory.