Neuroanatomical and functional dissociations between variably present anterior lateral prefrontal sulci

Abstract

The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) is an evolutionarily expanded region in humans that is critical for numerous complex functions, many of which are largely hominoid-specific. While recent work shows that the presence or absence of specific sulci in anterior LPFC is associated with cognitive performance across age groups, it is unknown whether the presence of these structures relates to individual differences in the functional organization of LPFC. To fill this gap in knowledge, we leveraged multimodal neuroimaging data from 72 young adult humans aged 22-36 and show that dorsal and ventral components of the paraintermediate frontal sulcus (pimfs) present distinct morphological (surface area), architectural (thickness and myelination), and functional (resting-state connectivity networks) properties. We further contextualize the pimfs components within classic and modern cortical parcellations. Taken together, the dorsal and ventral pimfs components mark transitions in anatomy and function in LPFC, across metrics and parcellations. These results emphasize that the pimfs is a critical structure to consider when examining individual differences in the anatomical and functional organization of LPFC and highlight the importance of considering individual anatomy when investigating structural and functional features of the cortex.