The middle frontal gyrus is the middle of the three horizontal ridges on the outer side of each frontal lobe, between the superior frontal gyrus above and the inferior frontal gyrus below; it makes up about a third of the frontal lobe. [1][2]
The 3D brain needs JavaScript. The text below still says where the middle frontal gyrus is and what it does.
Slice
Opens cut by a front (coronal) slice through the middle frontal gyrus. Drag to turn, pinch or scroll to zoom, tap any part to name it; .
The outer surface of the frontal lobe has four gyri: the precentral gyrus, directly in front of the central sulcus, and three horizontal ones ahead of it, the superior, middle and inferior frontal gyri. [2]
Its borders are the superior frontal sulcus above, the inferior frontal sulcus below and the precentral sulcus behind. [1]
It is more a region of the frontal lobe than one true gyrus: in many brains it is broken up by smaller furrows. [1]
The frontal eye field lies around where the back of the middle frontal gyrus meets the precentral gyrus, in Brodmann area 8. [3]
What it does
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex lies in the middle frontal gyrus (the lateral parts of Brodmann areas 9 and 46). It is a functional area, not an anatomical structure with its own borders. [4]
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex supports executive functions: working memory, cognitive flexibility, planning, inhibition and abstract reasoning. It is not their only seat: all complex mental activity also needs the cortical and deep circuits it connects to. [4]
The frontal eye field moves the eyes: it drives quick voluntary eye jumps (saccades) and pursuit movements, and helps steer visual attention; electrical stimulation there makes the eyes jump. [3]
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is one of the last parts of the human brain to mature; it keeps maturing into adulthood. [4]
Connections
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex connects with the orbitofrontal cortex, the thalamus, the dorsal caudate nucleus of the basal ganglia, the hippocampus, and association areas of the temporal, parietal and occipital lobes. [4]
It is the end point of the dorsal visual stream, the pathway concerned with how to act on what is seen. [4]
The frontal eye field reaches the eye muscles indirectly, through the paramedian pontine reticular formation in the brainstem. [3]
Other names
MFG. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex it holds is abbreviated dlPFC or DLPFC; other sources extend that area to Brodmann areas 8, 9 and 10. [1][4]
Size
On this model the left middle frontal gyrus measures about 85 mm front to back, 62 mm top to bottom and 35 mm side to side (the box it fits in, not its volume); the right one is its mirror image. [5]
Centre of the left middle frontal gyrus compared with the centre of the left superior frontal gyrus: 7 mm further forward, 6 mm lower, 18 mm further from the midline; 20 mm apart in a straight line. [5]
Centre of the left middle frontal gyrus compared with the centre of the left inferior frontal gyrus: 18 mm higher, 12 mm closer to the midline; 22 mm apart in a straight line. [5]
Facts describe anatomy and normal function only. The 3D model is the adult male BodyParts3D brain (credits and licence); real brains vary in size and shape, so its measurements describe one model, not anyone’s brain.