Science mirroring reality: an improbable journey into the functions of the frontal lobes

Receiving the National Academy of Neuropsychology's Lifetime Contributions to Neuropsychology Award promoted reflection on values and decisions. Selecting the topic of the presentation associated with the award also led to rumination. The term "lifetime" was the deciding factor: how does one choose and start a career path, what advice might one give to individuals embarking on their own career, and what goals does one set up early in one's career? What are the "drivers" in one's life? This was the topic of my presentation, and the theme of this manuscript. There were two drivers that can be traced to two important early career choices. These two drivers also ended up forming the two primary research themes on the functions of the frontal lobes. After a brief review of the reasons for the roads chosen in my career path, a summary of the two themes of research is presented.