Prefrontal Cortex

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
In Sterling Hall of Medicine, Yale, 1987,
Patricia Goldman-Rakic leans over the table,
adjusting the microelectrode array,
its thin wires piercing the air like whispers.
The rhesus monkey blinks, reaches for nothing,
hallucinatory fingers grasping at ghosts.
You, prefrontal cortex, executive center,
orchestrating my thoughts in this quiet room.

[Chorus]
Prefrontal cortex, my quiet architect,
in the cool lab at 68 degrees,
you hold the reins of reason and emotion.
Antonio Damasio, in '94, wrote of you,
how damage unravels the self,
like Phineas Gage on that September day in 1848,
railroad spike through your fragile domain.
Regulate me now, in this moment of choice.

[Verse 2]
The MRI scanner hums low, claustrophobic embrace,
metal cool against skin, 1990s patient study.
Abstract choices flicker on the screen,
blue pulses lighting your folds.
You bridge heart and mind, Patricia said,
working memory's guardian,
preventing the chaos of impulse.
I address you directly, my neural helm,
steer me through the storm of feelings.

[Bridge]

Strange fact: monkeys pick at imaginary threads,
disconnected from reality's weave.
Damasio's patients decide without feeling,
social threads frayed.
You, my resilience engine,
rebuild the bridges, one synapse at a time.

[Verse 3]
Coffee steam rises in the early morning lab,
7 AM starts, granola bar crumbs on the bench.
Antiseptic scent mingles with metallic tang,
equipment stable in the controlled chill.
You process the gaps, the missing voices,
families unspoken in clinical notes.
Heal the fractures, prefrontal guide,
let me choose calm over the void.

[Outro]

Prefrontal cortex, in your circuitry,
I find the strength to regulate,
to decide, to endure.