A Tripartite Map of the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex

The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) has been repeatedly implicated in affect, valuation, and social cognition, yet how these diverse functions are organized within a single cortical territory has remained unresolved. Here, we integrate large-scale meta-analysis, individual-level task fMRI, artificial neural-network encoding models, and multimodal connectivity analyses to reveal the internal functional architecture of the human VMPFC. Across four complementary studies, we identify a robust tripartite organization along the anterior-posterior axis, comprising posterior affective, middle valuation, and anterior social functional motifs. Connectivity fingerprinting demonstrates that each motif is preferentially embedded within distinct large-scale brain networks, providing a mechanistic account of VMPFC functional specialization. This organization is reproducible at the level of individual subjects, generalizes to naturalistic stimuli, extends across development, and shows cross-species correspondence with non-human primates and multiple neurobiological markers. Together, these findings resolve a long-standing organizational question and establish a biologically grounded framework for interpreting VMPFC function.