Saccadic eye movement and working memory deficits following damage to human prefrontal cortex

Walker, R., Husain, M., Hodgson, T. L. , Harrison, J. and Kennard, C. (1998) Saccadic eye movement and working memory deficits following damage to human prefrontal cortex. Neuropsychologia, 36 (11). pp. 1141-1159. ISSN 0028-3932

Full content URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0028-3932(98)00004-9

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Item Type:Article
Item Status:Live Archive

Abstract

A patient with a lesion confined largely to the right inferior frontal gyrus was found to be impaired on tests of spatial working memory and executive functioning. By contrast, his pattern recognition was good. The patient's selective impairments are consistent with the view that prefrontal cortex contributes to processes involved in spatial working memory. The patient was also tested on a range of oculomotor paradigms, some of which required the temporary suppression of a saccadic response. He was unable to suppress making contra- or ipsilesional reflexive glances to peripheral stimuli on the 'anti-saccade' paradigm, but his performance improved on delayed saccade, memory-guided saccade and fixation tasks. Although reflexive glances were observed under these conditions they occurred more frequently in response to contralesional stimuli than ipsilesional ones. Furthermore, the patient had no difficulty in performing anti-point movements with his ipsilesional hand. Thus, his inability to suppress reflexive glances on the anti-saccade task is not due to a generalised problem of 'distractibility'. The patient's deficits are discussed in terms of models of anti-saccade generation and are related to recent findings regarding the role of prefrontal cortex in working memory and visual attention.

Keywords:adult, amnesia, article, brain injury, case report, eye movement control, frontal lobe, human, male, prefrontal cortex, saccadic eye movement, stimulus response, task performance, working memory, Attention, Cerebrovascular Disorders, Chi-Square Distribution, Humans, Inhibition (Psychology), Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Memory Disorders, Memory, Short-Term, Middle Aged, Models, Psychological, Neuropsychological Tests, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Saccades, Visual Perception
Subjects:C Biological Sciences > C800 Psychology
Divisions:College of Social Science > School of Psychology
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ID Code:10556
Deposited On:08 Jul 2013 13:51

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