prefrontal association complex

Examples of prefrontal association complex in the following topics:

• Association Areas

  • The frontal lobe or prefrontal association complex is involved in planning actions and movement, as well as abstract thought.
  • Distinct networks are positioned adjacent to one another, yielding a complex series of interwoven networks.
  • In humans, association networks are particularly important to language function.
  • The processes of language expression and reception occur in areas other than just the perisylvian structures such as the prefrontal lobe, basal ganglia, cerebellum, pons, caudate nucleus, and others.
  • Locations of brain areas historically associated with language processing.

• Basal Ganglia

  • The basal ganglia are associated with a variety of functions, including voluntary motor control, procedural learning relating to routine behaviors or "habits" such as bruxism, eye movements, and cognitive, emotional functions.
  • The "behavior switching" that takes place within the basal ganglia is influenced by signals from many parts of the brain, including the prefrontal cortex, which plays a key role in executive functions.
  • Each of these areas has a complex internal anatomical and neurochemical organization.

• Cerebral Lobes

  • Brain lobes were originally a purely anatomical classification, but we now know they are also associated with specific brain functions.
  • The dopamine system is associated with reward, attention, short-term memory tasks, planning, and motivation.
  • It is involved in the senses of smell and sound as well as in processing of complex stimuli.
  • The areas associated with vision in the temporal lobe interpret the meaning of visual stimuli and establish object recognition.
  • The ventral part of the temporal cortices appear to be involved in high-level visual processing of complex stimuli such as faces (fusiform gyrus) and scenes (parahippocampal gyrus).

• Disorders of the Basal Ganglia

  • These areas are thought to control not only motor function but also oculomotor, prefrontal, associative, and limbic areas.
  • Evidence shows that the basal ganglias in patients with Huntington's Disease show a decrease in activity of the mitochondrial pathway, complex II-III.
  • Such deficiencies are often associated with basal ganglia degeneration.
  • For this reason, it is commonly believed that pathologies involving limbic, associative, and motor circuits of the basal ganglia are likely.

• Limbic System

  • The limbic system is also tightly connected to the prefrontal cortex.
  • To cure severe emotional disorders, this connection was sometimes surgically severed, a procedure of psychosurgery called a prefrontal lobotomy.

• The Brain

  • Most of the expansion comes from the cerebral cortex, especially the frontal lobes, which are associated with executive functions such as self-control, planning, reasoning, and abstract thought.
  • A number of psychiatric conditions, such as schizophrenia and depression, are thought to be associated with brain dysfunction, although the nature of such brain anomalies is not well understood.
  • Functionally, the cortex is commonly described as comprising three parts: sensory, motor, and association areas.
  • When the physical symptoms of emotion appear, the threat they pose returns to the limbic centers via the hypothalamus, then to the prefrontal nuclei, increasing anxiety.

• Stress and Disease

  • Diagnostic symptoms for PTSD include re-experiencing the original trauma(s) through flashbacks or nightmares, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, and increased arousal such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, anger, and hypervigilance.
  • An increase in noradrenaline in the frontal/prefrontal cortex modulates the action of selective noradrenaline re-uptake inhibition and improves mood.

• The Role of the Basal Ganglia in Movement

  • The basal ganglia are associated with a variety of functions, including voluntary motor control, procedural learning relating to routine behaviors or habits such as bruxism and eye movements, as well as cognitive and emotional functions.
  • The behavior switching that takes place within the basal ganglia is influenced by signals from many parts of the brain, including the prefrontal cortex, which plays a key role in executive functions.

• Adherens Junctions

  • This intracellular (within the cell) tail then links up to catenin proteins to form the cadherin–catenin complex. 
  • This complex binds to vinculin and alpha-actinin; these two proteins are what link the cadherin–catenin complex to the cell’s internal skeletal framework (the actin microfilaments).
  • Actin filaments are associated with adherens junctions in addition to several other actin-binding proteins.

• Major Histocompatibility Complex Antigens (Self-Antigens)

  • The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a cell surface molecule that regulates interactions between white blood cells and other cells.
  • Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a cell surface molecule encoded by a large gene family in all vertebrates.
  • A complex series of vessicles enable MHC transport from the cell, and the endoplasmic reticulum and golgi bodies facilitate this transport during antigen processing.
  • Organ transplantation is a complex procedure that can potentially cure many chronic diseases or damaged conditions.
  • MHC class I pathway: proteins in the cytosol are degraded by the proteasome, liberating peptides internalized by TAP channel in the endoplasmic reticulum, there associating with MHC-I molecules freshly synthesized.