Previous anatomical studies have shown that the orbital and medial prefrontal cortex is organized into “orbital” and “medial” networks, which have distinct connections with cortical, limbic, and subcortical structures. We examined, using retrograde and anterograde tracing methods, whether the orbital and medial prefrontal networks have differential connections with the ventral and dorsal temporal pole in monkeys. Our findings indicate that the ventral and dorsal temporal pole are reciprocally connected with the orbital and medial network areas, respectively. We also found that the ventral and dorsal temporal pole receive differential inputs from visual and auditory areas of the inferior and superior temporal cortex and that intrinsic connections within the temporal pole are restricted to dorsal or ventral parts. These results indicate that the ventral and dorsal temporal pole, which are located at the final processing stages of ventral visual and auditory cortical pathways, are associated respectively with the orbital and medial prefrontal networks.

The talk will be given in Japanese.