Subregional analysis of mnemonic functions of the prefrontal cortex in therat

Evidence is reviewed to support the idea that in the rat prefrontal cortex there are differential subregional functional contributions to cognitive an d memory function. It is proposed that the prefrontal cortex in the rat can be fractionated in terms of functions associated with a slightly revised r ule model that incorporates a domain-specific and a level-of-processing mod el. It is proposed that there is a hierarchy of lower order, higher order, and highest order rules that can support different subregions of the rat pr efrontal cortex. The lower order rules encompass rules associated with reve rsal learning. The higher order rules encompass rules associated with the d ifferent domains or attributes of working memory and cross-modal set switch ing. The highest order rules encompass rules associated with temporal order memory and paired associate learning and performance. It appears that ther e is a correspondence between rats and monkeys and between rats and humans in terms of prefrontal cortex function.