Big Ideas and the Brain: Prefrontal Cortex and Working Memory

This year, the Food for Thought Lecture Series is once again revisiting "BIG ideas", a theme that we looked at ten years ago! How have things changed? What progress, if any, has been made in various fields? Join us for what promises to be a very thought-provoking series. The series will be hosted by Professors Don Smith and Tim Geary.

Our fifth speaker is Dr Michael Petrides, Director of the Neuropsychology/Cognitive Neuroscience Unit at the Montreal Neurological Institute. Dr. Petrides has shown that the ability to monitor self-generated, intentional actions in working memory depends on a specific part of the dorsolateral frontal cortex, which interacts with the parietal cortex during the mental manipulation of information.

What are the building blocks of our brains? Dr. Michael Petrides examines the function of the different areas of the frontal cortex and their interaction with cognitive activity, particularly planning and working memory.