A primate needs its prefrontal cortex for behavior based on information accumulated before the moment of action. The prefrontal cortex is especially important if the information is new to the organism or conflicts with prior cues or memories that call for different actions. Whether the information is new or old, it must be retained in memory until the moment it can inform an act. It is the prefrontal cortex that supports this short-term memory (also called working memory) that subserves behavior.

Prefrontal memory is a matter not of content or duration but of context, the context of action. Short-term memory is not the only function of the prefrontal cortex, nor is it exclusively the role of the prefrontal cortex. But, insofar as action requires short-term memory, it also needs the prefrontal cortex. It follows that this part of...