Dysexecutive Syndrome Flashcards
What are the main regions of the cortex?
Frontal lobe, central sulcus, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, cerebellum, temporal lobe, sylvian fissure.
Name the sub-regions of the frontal lobes
Primary motor cortex, premotor cortex, anterior premotor cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, lateral frontopolar cortex, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, ventral anterior premotor cortex
What is the function of the premotor cortex?
Planning, preparation, selection, and correction of voluntary movements.
What is the primary motor cortex responsible for?
Initiation and execution of skilled complex voluntary movements, such as sequences.
What role does the prefrontal cortex play in cognition?
Controlled behavior, including executive functions like planning, inhibition, switching, and working memory.
What is the function of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dIPFC)?
Planning, inhibition, switching, and working memory.
What is the function of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vIPFC/vmPFC)?
Emotional control and regulation.
What cognitive abilities are associated with the lateral frontopolar cortex (FPC)?
The most abstract forms of human cognition.
What consensus exists about the role of the prefrontal cortex?
It mediates higher cognitive functions and coordinates the strategic use of cognitive resources.
What are executive functions?
Skills like organizing, planning, prioritizing, attention deployment, problem-solving, working memory, future thinking, decision-making, and emotional regulation.
What syndrome results from damage to the prefrontal cortex?
Dis-executive syndrome
Who was Phineas Gage, and why is he significant?
A railroad foreman who survived a prefrontal cortex injury, becoming a landmark case in understanding its role in personality and executive function.
What changes did Phineas Gage experience after his accident?
Personality changes, lack of impulse control, short-sighted behavior, inability to plan, and idiosyncratic behavior.
What are symptoms of executive dysfunction?
Inability to organize, plan, inhibit responses, shift focus, solve complex problems, or make farsighted decisions.
What does the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) assess?
Set-shifting, rule abstraction, and flexible thinking.
What behavior is observed in individuals with prefrontal damage during the WCST?
Perseveration, or continuing to sort by a rule even when it is incorrect.
What does the Stroop Test measure?
Selective attention and response inhibition.
What is tested by the Hayling Test?
Response inhibition and strategy generation.
Why do individuals with prefrontal damage struggle with the Stroop and Hayling tests?
They cannot inhibit automatic responses or generate effective strategies.
What is the Multiple Errands Test (MET)?
A real-world test assessing planning, problem-solving, and strategy thinking through tasks performed in a shopping precinct.
What errors are common in individuals with prefrontal damage during the MET?
Poor plan formulation, failure to follow instructions, and inappropriate goal articulation.
What is the Supervisory Attentional System (SAS)?
A model proposing two types of actions: automatic (condition-led) and controlled (SAS-led).
What tasks require the SAS?
Novel, complex, dangerous tasks or those requiring inhibition of habitual responses.
What happens when the SAS is impaired?
Perseveration, distractibility, and failure to inhibit responses.
Who was EVR, and what was his condition?
A successful accountant who exhibited severe decision-making deficits after ventromedial prefrontal cortex damage.
What deficits did EVR demonstrate?
Difficulty in decision-making, impulsivity, and inability to plan effectively despite high IQ.
What is the Somatic Marker Hypothesis?
A theory that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex links emotional states to past experiences, guiding decision-making through “gut feelings.”
How does damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex affect decision-making?
Individuals fail to use emotional markers, leading to poor decisions
What is the Iowa Gambling Task?
A test where participants must learn to prefer “good decks” with low rewards and punishments over “bad decks” with high rewards and punishments.
What behavior is observed in prefrontal cortex-damaged individuals on the Iowa Gambling Task?
They fail to develop anticipatory emotional responses to bad decks, impairing their decision-making.
What is the role of the prefrontal cortex?
It supports executive functions, decision-making, and emotional regulation.
What theories explain executive dysfunction?
The Supervisory Attentional System (Norman & Shallice, 1986) and the Somatic Marker Hypothesis (Damasio, 1996).
where in the brain does dysexecutive syndrome happen?
frontal lobe (damage to)
