Anatomic and Behavioral Aspects of Frontal‐Subcortical Circuitsa
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences December 1, 1995 Jeffrey L. Cummings 362 citations
Frontal-subcortical circuits, originating in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex, provide a framework for understanding the anatomy, biochemistry, and pharmacology of behavior. Circuit-specific marker behaviors include executive dysfunction (dorsolateral prefrontal-subcortical circuit), disinhibition and OCD (orbitofrontal-subcortical circuit), and apathy (medial frontal-subcortical circuit). Environmental dependency is common to all prefrontal-subcortical syndromes and may reflect disruption of working memory. Depression, mania, and psychosis are circuit-related but not circuit-specific. The actions of PCP, LSD, serotonergic antidepressants, anxiolytics, sedative-hypnotics, antipsychotic agents, and ethanol may be partially or primarily mediated through transmitter systems and receptor effects expressed through frontal-subcortical circuits.