Function
The DLPFC plays a role in sustaining attention and working memory. Lesions to the DLPFC impair short-term memory and cause difficulty inhibiting responses. Lesions may also eliminate much of the ability to make judgements about what's relevant and what's not as well as causing problems in organization.
The DLPFC has recently been found to be involved in exhibiting self-control. http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/501/3
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is one of the few areas deactivated during REM sleep. Neuroscientist J. Allan Hobson has hypothesized that activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex produces lucid dreams.
Read more about this topic: Brodmann Area 46
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