Humans are set apart from other animals by many elements of advanced cognition and behaviour, including language, judgement and reasoning. What is special about the human brain that gives rise to these abilities? Could the foremost part of the prefrontal cortex (the frontopolar cortex), which has become considerably enlarged in humans during evolution compared with other animals, be important in this regard, especially as, in primates, it contains a unique cytoarchitectural field, area 10? The first studies of the function of the frontopolar cortex in monkeys have now provided critical new insights about its precise role in monitoring the significance of current and alternative goals. In human evolution, the frontopolar cortex may have acquired a further role in enabling the monitoring of the significance of multiple goals in parallel, as well as switching between them. Here, we argue that many other forms of uniquely human behaviour may benefit from this cognitive ability mediated by the frontopolar cortex.

人类与其他动物的区别在于许多高级认知和行为要素，包括语言、判断和推理。产生这些能力的人脑有什么特别之处？与其他动物相比，在人类进化过程中，前额叶皮层（额极皮层）的最前面部分在这方面变得相当大，在这方面是否很重要，尤其是在灵长类动物中，它包含一个独特的细胞结构场，即区域 10？对猴子额极皮层功能的首次研究现在提供了关于其在监测当前和替代目标的重要性方面的精确作用的重要新见解。在人类进化过程中，额极皮层可能在能够同时监测多个目标的重要性方面发挥了进一步的作用，以及在它们之间切换。在这里，我们认为许多其他形式的独特人类行为可能受益于这种由额极皮层介导的认知能力。