The prefrontal cortex is a multimodal region where information about bodily states, surrounding circumstances, and semantic knowledge converge. All this information is used to develop an appropriate plan of action. Prefrontal neurons project to the locus ceruleus, the origin of cortical noradrenergic projections that influence our level of alertness and attention. Norepinephrine released from the locus ceruleus facilitates the transmission of incoming sensory signals, making it more likely that we will detect, attend to, and be influenced by environmental sensory stimuli. Parietal sensory association cortices also contain neurons with working memory type properties, so that multiple sources of perceptual information can be held “online” while a plan is being formulated (J. Neurosci. 2002;22:8720-5).
These sensory association cortices perhaps contribute perception and mental imagery to the formulated plan and constitute a working memory network designed for strategic thought. The potential rewarding and aversive values of a stimulus influence prefrontal neuronal activity, as well as other stages of the perceptual and planning networks, and thereby affect what we perceptually notice and choose to contemplate in the strategic planning process (Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 2004;14:139-47). We are more likely to attend to higher-reward and higher-risk stimuli than to those with little potential consequence.
Next month we will consider what happens when we execute a plan of action.