Le trouble du rôle régulateur du langage au cours des lésions du lobe frontal

Abstract

Two features are supposed to be essential for the change of behavior in cases of lesions of frontal lobes: deficit of spontaneous activity (lack of initiative) and deficit of awareness of the subjects defects (lack of self-criticism). Both features can be explained only in the terms of disturbances of self-regulating systems. The first can be understood as a deficit of establishing of preliminary programmes of behavior and especially (in human beings) as disturbances of regulating functions of speech; the second, as a deficit of feed back processes with a loss of evaluation of the effects of the subjects own action, which has a basic mechanism a comparison of preliminary plans (intention) and the effect of action. The paper reports data from a series of observations of the disturbances of the regulatory processes and the controlling functions of speech in patients with lesions of the frontal lobes. It deals with an analysis of the disturbances of simple models of behavior, directed by verbal instructions, with the analysis of disturbances opf simple and complicated motor reactions to verbal instructions, and with disturbances of verbal regulation of vegetative components of the orienting reflexes. It includes a programme of further studies of neuro-psychological mechanisms of the “frontal syndrome in man”.