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Journal article
Cognition Without Control: When a Little Frontal Lobe Goes a Long Way
Current directions in psychological science : a journal of the American Psychological Society, v 18(5), pp 259-263
01 Oct 2009
PMID: 20401341
Abstract
The prefrontal cortex is crucial for the ability to regulate thought and control behavior. The development of the human cerebral cortex is characterized by an extended period of maturation during which young children exhibit marked deficits in cognitive control. We contend that prolonged prefrontal immaturity is, on balance, advantageous and that the positive consequences of this developmental trajectory outweigh the negative. Particularly, we argue that cognitive control impedes convention learning and that delayed prefrontal maturation is a necessary adaptation for human learning of social and linguistic conventions. We conclude with a discussion of recent observations that are relevant to this claim of evolutionary trade-offs in a wide range of research areas, including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, creativity, and sleep.
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Details
- Title
- Cognition Without Control: When a Little Frontal Lobe Goes a Long Way
- Creators
- Sharon L. Thompson-Schill - Univ Penn, Dept Psychol, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USAMichael Ramscar - Stanford UniversityEvangelia G. Chrysikou
- Publication Details
- Current directions in psychological science : a journal of the American Psychological Society, v 18(5), pp 259-263
- Publisher
- Sage
- Number of pages
- 5
- Grant note
- R01 MH070850; R01 MH067008; R01 MH070850-04; R01 MH067008-05 / NIMH NIH HHS; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH070850 / NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01 DC009209; R01 DC009209-07 / NIDCD NIH HHS; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Institute on Deafness & Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) R01DC009209 / NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Institute on Deafness & Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- College of Arts and Sciences
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000271465400002
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-74849135030
- Other Identifier
- 991020531849504721
InCites Highlights
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Psychology, Multidisciplinary