Measures Of Prefrontal Dysfunction Research Articles

Social cognition of indirect speech: Evidence from Parkinson's disease

We examined potential neurocognitive mechanisms of indirect speech in support of face management in 28 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 32 elderly controls with chronic disease. In Experiment 1, we demonstrated automatic activation of indirect meanings of particularized implicatures in controls but not in PD patients. Failure to automatically engage comprehension of indirect meanings of indirect speech acts in PD patients was correlated with a measure of prefrontal dysfunction. In Experiment 2, we showed that while PD patients and controls offered similar interpretations of indirect speech acts, PD participants were overly confident in their interpretations and unaware of errors of interpretation. Efficient reputational adjustment mechanisms apparently require intact striatal–prefrontal networks.

Measures of Prefrontal Dysfunction after Closed Head Injury

Tasks sensitive to frontal lobe dysfunction (delayed response, delayed alternation, object alternation, and Wisconsin Card Sort) were administered to 20 patients with post-acute closed-head injury (CHI). Time since injury varied (6 to 280 months; mean, 48 months), as did length of coma (2 hr to 120 days; mean, 38 days). Compared to normal controls, CHI patients showed no deficits on delayed response tasks, but were impaired on delayed alternation, object alternation, and the Wisconsin Card Sort Test. Analyses of the performance profiles of the CHI patients suggested that they may have difficulty in establishing set (a consequence of damage to the orbitofrontal system).

Experimental and clinical neuropsychological measures of prefrontal dysfunction in schizophrenia.

Experimental and clinical neuropsychological measures of prefrontal dysfunction in schizophrenia.