The lateral prefrontal cortex is known to be organized by cognitive hierarchies following aposterior-to-anterior gradient. Here we test whether this model applies across differentcognitive domains by varying levels of cognitive hierarchy in first language, second languageand non-language domains. These domains vary in their degree of automaticity with firstlanguage being the most automatic. For second languageon-language a clear gradientpattern of activation depending on the level of hierarchy is observed in the prefrontal cortexwith the highest level of hierarchy recruiting its most anterior region, whereas for first languagethe highest level of hierarchy recruits its most posterior region. Moreover, secondlanguageon-language and first language differ in the structural connectivity of theirunderlying networks. The current data strongly suggest that functional segregation of theprefrontal cortex is determined by cognitive hierarchy and the degree of automaticity.
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