Prefrontal Gray and White Matter Volumes in Healthy Aging and Alzheimer Disease

Abstract
STUDIES OF frontal lobe cognition and morphology suggest that the frontal lobe, and specifically the prefrontal cortex, may be disproportionately sensitive to changes with aging compared with other areas of brain.1-4 The prefrontal cortex is involved in mediating certain cognitive processes, including metamemory,5 source memory,6 working memory,7,8 behavioral inhibition,9 and the nonconscious biases that guide decision making.10 These and other frontal lobe cognitive functions are often the first to decline in early senescence.2,3