The Japanese journal of neuropsychology

Full Text of this Article
in Japanese PDF (1094K)

ArticleTitle	Neuropsychological characteristics following frontal cortex damage
Language	J
AuthorList	Michitaka Funayama
Affiliation	Department of Neuropsychiatry, Ashikaga Red Cross Hospital
Publication	Japanese Journal of Neuropsychology: 31 (2), 116-125, 2015
Received
Accepted
Abstract	Neuropsychological characteristics observed after prefrontal cortex damage were summarized. Those with patients after total and pretotal prefronal cortex lesion include difficulties in making plan or goal-directed behavior, dependency to external stimuli and release phenomenon, stereotypical behavior, and difficulties in divergent thinking while individual knowledge which were learned in the past were mostly preserved. Patients with prefrontal cortex damage sometimes show difficulties in categorization, suggesting categorization might be one of the prefrontal cortex functions. Patients with orbitofrontal/ventromedial prefrontal cortex damage tend to present with difficulties in impulse control. However, they have knowledge about what they should not have done, suggestive of role of emotional regulation in orbitofrontal/ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Taken together, the prefrontal cortex plays a key role in dynamic, strategic, goal-directed behaviors by using knowledge, categorizing, and emotional regulation.
Keywords	prefrontal cortex, goal-directed behavior, release phenomenon, categorization, impulse control