Purpose: Focal cortical dysplasias (FCD) are localized regions of malformed cerebral cortex and are very frequently associated with epilepsy in both children and adults. A broad spectrum of histopathology has been included in the diagnosis of FCD. An ILAE task force proposes an international consensus classification system to better characterize specific clinicopathological FCD entities. Methods: Thirty‐two Task Force members have reevaluated available data on electroclinical presentation, imaging, neuropathological examination of surgical specimens as well as postsurgical outcome. Key Findings: The ILAE Task Force proposes a three‐tiered classification system. FCD Type I refers to isolated lesions, which present either as radial (FCD Type Ia) or tangential (FCD Type Ib) dyslamination of the neocortex, microscopically identified in one or multiple lobes. FCD Type II is an isolated lesion characterized by cortical dyslamination and dysmorphic neurons without (Type IIa) or with balloon cells (Type IIb). Hence, the major change since a prior classification represents the introduction of FCD Type III, which occurs in combination with hippocampal sclerosis (FCD Type IIIa), or with epilepsy‐associated tumors (FCD Type IIIb). FCD Type IIIc is found adjacent to vascular malformations, whereas FCD Type IIId can be diagnosed in association with epileptogenic lesions acquired in early life (i.e., traumatic injury, ischemic injury or encephalitis). Significance: This three‐tiered classification system will be an important basis to evaluate imaging, electroclinical features, and postsurgical seizure control as well as to explore underlying molecular pathomechanisms in FCD.

There is growing interest regarding the role of the right inferior frontal gyrus (RIFG) during a particular form of executive control referred to as response inhibition. However, tasks used to examine neural activity at the point of response inhibition have rarely controlled for the potentially confounding effects of attentional demand. In particular, it is unclear whether the RIFG is specifically involved in inhibitory control, or is involved more generally in the detection of salient or task relevant cues. The current fMRI study sought to clarify the role of the RIFG in executive control by holding the stimulus conditions of one of the most popular response inhibition tasks-the Stop Signal Task-constant, whilst varying the response that was required on reception of the stop signal cue. Our results reveal that the RIFG is recruited when important cues are detected, regardless of whether that detection is followed by the inhibition of a motor response, the generation of a motor response, or no external response at all.

Significance: One of the oldest debates in cognitive neuroscience concerns the degree of functional specialization present in the human brain. Prior work has discovered several highly specialized components dedicated to particular mental functions, like face recognition or motion perception. However, our cognitive versatility suggests the additional existence of more general-purpose machinery. Building on prior neuroimaging evidence, along with neurophysiological evidence from non-human primates, we searched for such domain-general brain regions in humans. Seven diverse demanding cognitive tasks produced overlapping activation at the individual-subject level in a number of frontal and parietal brain regions. Thus, human cognition arises from hardware that includes not only specialized components, but also very general-purpose ones that plausibly enable us to solve novel problems.