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D-KEFS Trail Making Test performance in patients with lateral prefrontal cortex lesions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2007

BRIAN YOCHIM
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado
JULIANA BALDO
Affiliation:
Center for Aphasia and Related Disorders, VA Northern California Health Care System, Martinez, California
ADAM NELSON
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychology, VA Northern California Health Care System, Martinez, California
DEAN C. DELIS
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, California, and Psychology Service, VA San Diego Health Care System, San Diego, California

Abstract

This study evaluated cognitive set-shifting in 12 patients with focal lesions in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPC) by examining their performance on the Trail Making Test from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS). Patients with LPC lesions performed significantly worse than controls on the D-KEFS Trail Making Test on the Letter Sequencing, Number-Letter Switching (set-shifting), and Motor Speed conditions. Patients with LPC lesions performed significantly more slowly on the Number-Letter Switching condition even after controlling for performance on the four baseline conditions of the test. In addition, patients with LPC lesions exhibited significantly elevated error rates on the Number-Letter Switching condition. Results suggest that LPC lesions can lead to impaired cognitive set-shifting on a visual-motor sequencing task. (JINS, 2007, 13, 704–709.)

Type
BRIEF COMMUNICATION
Copyright
© 2007 The International Neuropsychological Society

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