Subdivisions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) evolved at different times. Agranular parts of the PFC emerged in early mammals, and rodents, primates, and other modern mammals share them by inheritance. These are limbic areas and include the agranular orbital cortex and agranular medial frontal cortex (areas 24, 32, and 25). Rodent research provides valuable insights into the structure, functions, and development of these shared areas, but it contributes less to parts of the PFC that are specific to primates, namely, the granular, isocortical PFC that dominates the frontal lobe in humans. The first granular PFC areas evolved either in early primates or in the last common ancestor of primates and tree shrews. Additional granular PFC areas emerged in the primate stem lineage, as represented by modern strepsirrhines. Other granular PFC areas evolved in simians, the group that includes apes, humans, and monkeys. In general, PFC accreted new areas along a roughly posterior to anterior trajectory during primate evolution. A major expansion of the granular PFC occurred in humans in concert with other association areas, with modifications of corticocortical connectivity and gene expression, although current evidence does not support the addition of a large number of new, human-specific PFC areas.

前额皮质（PFC）的细分在不同时期进化。 PFC 的无颗粒部分出现在早期哺乳动物中，啮齿类动物、灵长类动物和其他现代哺乳动物通过遗传共享它们。这些是边缘区域，包括无颗粒的眶皮层和无颗粒的内侧额叶皮层（区域 24、32 和 25）。啮齿类动物的研究为这些共享区域的结构、功能和发育提供了有价值的见解，但它对灵长类动物特有的 PFC 部分（即主导人类额叶的粒状、同皮质 PFC）贡献较少。第一个颗粒状 PFC 区域是在早期灵长类动物或灵长类动物和树鼩的最后共同祖先中进化的。在灵长类干谱系中出现了额外的颗粒状 PFC 区域，以现代链球菌为代表。其他颗粒状 PFC 区域在猿类中进化而来，该类群包括猿、人类和猴子。一般来说，在灵长类动物进化过程中，PFC 沿着大致从后到前的轨迹积累新区域。尽管目前的证据不支持增加大量新的、人类特有的 PFC 区域，但人类中颗粒状 PFC 的重大扩展与其他关联区域一起发生，伴随着皮质连接和基因表达的改变。