Only spontaneous counterfactual thinking is impaired in patients with prefrontal cortex lesions

Counterfactual thoughts (CFT) are mental simulations of what might have been if another behavior had been executed. They are pervasive in everyday life, help people learn from experience, modulate their emotional state, and contribute to decision-making and social functioning. To test the hypothesis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain research. Cognitive brain research 2005-08, Vol.24 (3), p.723-726
Main Authors: Gomez Beldarrain, Marian, Garcia-Monco, J. Carlos, Astigarraga, Elena, Gonzalez, Ainara, Grafman, Jordan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Anatomical correlates of behavior
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain Diseases - complications
Brain Diseases - etiology
Brain Diseases - psychology
Cerebral Infarction - pathology
Cerebral Infarction - physiopathology
Cerebral Infarction - psychology
Cognition. Intelligence
Counterfactual thoughts
Cues
Depressive Disorder - psychology
Emotional state
Emotions
Executive function
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Mental Processes - physiology
Miscellaneous
Personality Tests
Personality traits
Postoperative Complications - psychology
Prefrontal cortex
Prefrontal Cortex - injuries
Prefrontal Cortex - pathology
Prefrontal Cortex - physiopathology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Stroke - complications
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
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Summary:Counterfactual thoughts (CFT) are mental simulations of what might have been if another behavior had been executed. They are pervasive in everyday life, help people learn from experience, modulate their emotional state, and contribute to decision-making and social functioning. To test the hypothesis that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is involved in the generation, content, and use of CFT, we studied 18 patients with strictly prefrontal cortex lesions. Our results indicated that the PFC is crucial only for self-generated counterfactual reflections. We did not detect CFT generation differences based on lesion location within the PFC. CFT performance correlated positively with measures of attention, creativity, verbal skills, conscientiousness, and self-esteem and negatively with depression and dysexecutive symptoms. An impairment in counterfactual thinking may contribute to the lack of regret and insight often observed in patients with frontal lobe lesions.
ISSN:0926-6410
DOI:10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2005.03.013