[Surveying the brain-psyche connection. The frontal lobes control cerebral and mental "timing"]

Regional variations in the brain related to various forms of mental activity can be mapped with rapid isotope methods. Normal resting consciousness entails a high level of activity in large parts of the central nervous system (CNS)--particularly in the frontal lobes. Here the level of activity is reduced during loss of consciousness, intoxication, coma, and also during sleep. Specific functional landscapes can be recorded during perception of sensory stimuli, production of voluntary movements and speech, and in connexion with problem solving, mental imagery, thinking, etc. Effects of emotional stimuli can also be traced. These findings support the idea that a prerequisite for mental activity is a serial activity in multiple distributed networks. In this review, emphasis is laid upon the serial nature (the temporal organisation) of both neurophysiological and mental events. Much new evidence suggests that the serial nature of brain activity and of the cognition is governed by the frontal lobes.