Effects of Focal Frontal Lesions on Response Inhibition

This study examined the performance of 38 normal subjects and 43 patients with focal lesions of the frontal lobes on a simple go–nogo task where the probability of the nogo stimulus was either 75% or 25%. Patients with lesions to the superior medial parts of the frontal lobes, in particular to the l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. 1991) N.Y. 1991), 2007-04, Vol.17 (4), p.826-838
Main Authors: Picton, Terence W., Stuss, Donald T., Alexander, Michael P., Shallice, Tim, Binns, Malcolm A., Gillingham, Susan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
anterior cingulate
Brain Damage, Chronic - physiopathology
Frontal Lobe - injuries
Frontal Lobe - physiopathology
Humans
lesion localization
Neural Inhibition
nogo paradigm
premotor cortex
Reaction Time
supplementary motor areas
Task Performance and Analysis
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Summary:This study examined the performance of 38 normal subjects and 43 patients with focal lesions of the frontal lobes on a simple go–nogo task where the probability of the nogo stimulus was either 75% or 25%. Patients with lesions to the superior medial parts of the frontal lobes, in particular to the left superior portion of Brodmann area 6 (which includes the supplementary motor areas and the premotor areas for the right hand) had an increased number of false alarms (incorrect responses to the nogo stimulus). These results indicate that area 6 is specifically involved in the inhibition of response. Patients with lesions to the right anterior cingulate (areas 24 and 32) were slower and more variable in their reaction time. These findings could be explained by an inability to sustain stimulus-response contingencies. Lesions to the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann areas 44, 45, 47) also increased the variability of response, perhaps by disrupting monitoring performance.
ISSN:1047-3211
1460-2199
DOI:10.1093/cercor/bhk031