Convergence of Auditory, Visual, and Somatosensory Information in Ventral Prefrontal Cortex

Our ability to recognize and integrate auditory and visual stimuli is the basis for many cognitive processes but is especially essential in meaningful communication. Although many brain regions contribute to recognition and integration of sensory signals, the frontal lobes both receive a multitude of afferents from sensory association areas and have influence over a wide region of the nervous system to govern behavior. Furthermore, the frontal lobes are special in that they have been associated with language processes, working memory, planning, and reasoning, which all depend on the recognition and integration of a vast network of signals. Research has also shown that somatosensory afferents reach the frontal lobe and that in specific regions single cells encode somatosensory signals. In this chapter we will focus on the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), also known as the inferior convexity in some studies, and describe the connectivity of VLPFC with auditory, visual, and somatosensory cortical areas. This connectivity provides the circuitry for prefrontal responses to these stimuli, which will also be described from previous research. The potential function of combined auditory, visual, and somatosensory inputs will be described with regard to communication and object recognition.