Patricia Goldman-Rakic: a pioneer and leader in frontal lobe research

Abstract

Our understanding of the organization of the frontal cortex can be traced back to the experimental studies in the late 1800s by Fritsch and Hitzig on the frontal cortex of dogs and the frontal cortex of monkeys by Ferrier. These studies and many other studies that followed focused on motor functions, but halfway through the 20th century, very little was understood about the role of the frontal lobe in the control of other functions, and it was generally thought that the frontal lobe did not play a significant role in cognition. One result was that studies of cortical functions in cognition were carried out largely on parietal and temporal cortical regions with surprisingly little interest in the frontal lobe. The first systematic studies of the effects of prefrontal lesions on non-human primates began around 1950, especially by Rosvold and Mishkin in the Laboratory of Psychology at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in the United States. With her background in development, Pat Goldman joined this laboratory in 1965 and began an examination of the effects of prefrontal lobectomy on behavior in infant rhesus monkeys, both during development and later as the animals grew into adulthood. Her developmental studies were groundbreaking as they demonstrated that the effects of early prefrontal lesions varied with precise age (including prenatal), precise lesion location, behaviors measured, and age at assessment. She also began in parallel extensive studies of the role of the prefrontal cortex for a range of functions (especially working memory) in adult monkeys, which led to an examination of factors that influenced functional outcomes after injury or disease. This research was critical in helping to identify the significant role of the prefrontal cortex in cognition in both normal brains and neurological diseases such as schizophrenia. Her pioneering study demonstrating the role of the prefrontal cortex in cognition led to a remarkable increase in the number of researchers studying prefrontal functions in both non-human primates and rodents. This review will chronicle the key findings in her 35⁺ years studying the prefrontal cortex and illustrate the course she set for generations to follow.

Keywords: brain development; brain plasticity; dopamine; prefrontal cortex; schizophrenia; working memory.