ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the role of frontal cortical areas in divided attention and simultaneous temporal processing (STP). An interesting, yet unexplained, finding by D. S. Olton et al. is that shifts in peak time following hippocampal and frontal cortex damage are in opposite directions. Hippocampal lesions produce leftward shifts in peak time, whereas frontal cortex lesions produce rightward shifts in peak time. Frontal motor areas may also serve a coordinating role because of their direct reciprocal connections with both the basal ganglia and cerebellum. A number of recent functional imaging and electrophysiological studies in animals and humans also link various areas of the frontal cortex to aspects of temporal processing other than reference memory. The lateral agranular region of the frontal cortex was selected for recordings because rats with damage to the area have impaired performance on compound, but not simple trials of the STP procedure, suggesting a deficit in divided attention.
