HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Correspondence: Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Correspondence are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Godefroy, O. Articles by Rousseaux, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Godefroy, O. Articles by Rousseaux, M.

Novel decision making in patients with prefrontal or posterior brain damage

From the Department of Neurological Rehabilitation, CHRU de Lille, France.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. O. Godefroy, Service de Neurologie B, F-59037, Lille, France.

Patients with lesions of the frontal lobes experience greater difficulties in performing nonroutine tasks, but their ability to cope with novel situations has not been studied. We assessed novel and previously practiced decisions in normal subjects and patients with frontal or posterior brain damage using a unimanual two-choice response time test. Patients with frontal damage had a dramatic impairment on novel decision, whereas practiced decision was normal. Relative Judgment Theory analysis suggested that the basic disorder concerns the ability to create internal referents that are determined from instructions and are subsequently required to associate the current stimulus with the appropriate response. The results of the study suggest that the prefrontal cortex is critical for novel decision making and that it operates mainly at the stage of creation of internal referents that associate some subsequent event with the selection of appropriate processing. This basic disorder may underlie some behavioral changes such as apathy and difficulty on tests that are sensitive to frontal damage.

Received March 26, 1996. Accepted in final form July 30, 1996.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M Mangset, E Berge, R Forde, J Nessa, and T B Wyller "Two per cent isn't a lot, but when it comes to death it seems quite a lot anyway": patients' perception of risk and willingness to accept risks associated with thrombolytic drug treatment for acute stroke J. Med. Ethics, January 1, 2009; 35(1): 42 - 46. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. van Reekum, D. T. Stuss, and L. Ostrander Apathy: Why Care? J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci, February 1, 2005; 17(1): 7 - 19. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. K. Fellows and M. J. Farah Different Underlying Impairments in Decision-making Following Ventromedial and Dorsolateral Frontal Lobe Damage in Humans Cereb Cortex, January 1, 2005; 15(1): 58 - 63. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. K. Fellows The Cognitive Neuroscience of Human Decision Making: A Review and Conceptual Framework Behav Cogn Neurosci Rev, September 1, 2004; 3(3): 159 - 172. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. M. Roth, L. A. Flashman, A. J. Saykin, T. W. McAllister, and R. Vidaver Apathy in Schizophrenia: Reduced Frontal Lobe Volume and Neuropsychological Deficits Am J Psychiatry, January 1, 2004; 161(1): 157 - 159. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. H. Baeg, Y. B. Kim, J. Jang, H. T. Kim, I. Mook-Jung, and M. W. Jung Fast Spiking and Regular Spiking Neural Correlates of Fear Conditioning in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex of the Rat Cereb Cortex, May 1, 2001; 11(5): 441 - 451. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]