Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-22dnz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T04:09:00.426Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Script Generation and Executive Dysfunction in Patients with Anterior and Posterior Brain Lesions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2016

Anna Emmanouel ,
Danielle Boelen ,
Eirini Mouza ,
Phillipe Allain ,
Roy P.C. Kessels  and
Luciano Fasotti
Anna Emmanouel*
Affiliation:
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Danielle Boelen
Affiliation:
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Department of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Rehabilitation Medical Centre Groot Klimmendaal, Arnhem, The Netherlands
Eirini Mouza
Affiliation:
Rehabilitation Centre ‘Anagennisi’, Nea Redestos, Oik. Filothei, Thessaloniki, Greece
Phillipe Allain
Affiliation:
Department de Neurologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Angers, France Laboratoire de Psychology (EA 2646), Universite d’ Angers, Angers, France
Roy P.C. Kessels
Affiliation:
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Department of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Vincent van Gogh Institute for Psychiatry, Venray, The Netherlands
Luciano Fasotti
Affiliation:
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Rehabilitation Medical Centre Groot Klimmendaal, Arnhem, The Netherlands
*
Address for correspondence: Anna Emmanouel, Radboud University and Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Montessorilaan 3 6525 HR Nijmegen, Nijmegen, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Get access

Abstract

Introduction: Studies on script processing have shown inconsistent relations between deficits in script action generation and frontal lobe pathology. Therefore, we investigated which difficulties in script action generation are linked to anterior lesions. Moreover, we explored whether verbal script generation can be predicted by specific executive processes.

Methods: Fifty-two patients with acquired brain injury (mean age: 44.23 years, 30 male/22 female) were included, of whom 30 had anterior and 22 had posterior lesions. Several indices of the Everyday Description Task were investigated: relevant central actions (RCAs); relevant trivial actions (RTAs); relevant and irrelevant intrusions (RI & IRI); sequencing (SEs) and perseverative (PEs) errors. Additionally, five z-composite scores representing planning, response generation, working memory, inhibition and shifting were calculated. Correlations and multiple linear regression analyses were computed.

Results: Anteriorly lesioned patients produced significantly less RCAs and more PEs and SEs compared to posteriorly damaged patients. No differences were found with RTAs, RI and IRI. RCAs were predicted by planning, response generation and working memory, RI by response generation and working memory, IRI by inhibition, PEs and SEs by response generation and shifting. None of these executive processes predicted RTAs.

Conclusions: Difficulties in RCAs, PEs and SEs are sensitive indicators of anterior brain damage and script generation demands various executive abilities.

Keywords

Script generationbrain injuryanterior pathologyexecutive dysfunctionmultistep activities of daily living
Type
Articles
Information
Brain Impairment , Volume 17 , Issue 3 , December 2016 , pp. 193 - 208
Copyright
Copyright © Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allain, P., Etcharry-Bouyx, F., & Le Gall, D. (2001). A case study of selective impairment of the central executive component of working memory after focal frontal lobe damage. Brain and Cognition, 45 (1), 21–43. DOI: 10.1006/brcg.2000.1249.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Allain, P., Gaura, V., Fasotti, L., Chauvire, V., Prundean, A., Sherer-Gagou, C., . . . Remy, P. (2011). The neural substrates of script knowledge deficits as revealed by a PET study in Huntington's disease. Neuropsychologia, 49 (9), 2673–2684. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.05.015.Google Scholar
Allain, P., Fasotti, L., Roy, A., Chauvire, V., Etcharry-Bouyx, F., & De Le Gall, D. (2012). Script-event representation in patients with severe traumatic brain injury. Cortex, 48 (9), 1155–1164. DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2011.05.016.Google Scholar
Alvarez, J.A., & Emory, E. (2006). Executive function and the frontal lobes: A meta-analytic review. Neuropsychological Review, 16, 17–42. DOI: 10.1007/s11065-006-9002-x.Google Scholar
Barcelo, F. (2001). Does the wisconsin card sorting test measure prefrontal function? Spanish Journal of Psychology, 4, 79–100. Downloaded (open access) on 23 March 2013. Retrieved from: http://mcst.es/pdfs/barcelo01.pdf.Google Scholar
Barcelo, F., & Knight, R.T. (2002). Both random and perseverative errors underlie WCST deficits in prefrontal patients. Neuropsychologia, 40, 349–356. DOI: 10.1016/S0028-3932(01)00110-5.Google Scholar
Bennett, P.C., Ong, B., & Ponsford, J. (2005). Assessment of executive dysfunction following traumatic brain injury: Comparison of the BADS with other clinical neuropsychological measures. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 11, 606–613. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1355617705050721.Google Scholar
Bertens, D., Frankenmolen, N., Boelen, D.H., Kessels, R.C.P., & Fasotti, L. (2015). Validity of an adapted scoring method for a modified six elements test in individuals with brain injury. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 30 (2), 122–129, DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acu093.Google Scholar
Boelen, D.H.E., Allain, P., Spikman, J.M., & Fasotti, L. (2011). Script generation and dysexecutive syndrome in patients with brain injury. Brain Injury, 25 (11), 1091–1100. DOI: 10.3109/02699052.2011.608207.Google Scholar
Brown, G.G., Kindermann, S.S., Siegle, G.J., Granholm, E., Wong, E.C., & Buxton, R.B. (1999). Brain activation and pupil response during covert performance of the stroop colour word task. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 5 (4), 308–319. Downloaded on 12 June 2013. Retrieved from: http://journals.cambridge.org.proxy.ubn.ru.nl/download.php?file=%2FINS%2FINS5_04%2FS1355617799544020a.pdf&code=5f6b2a2378bf52acb38b329bcd41b762.Google Scholar
Burgess, P.W., Alderman, N., Emslie, H., Evans, J., & Wilson, B.A. (1998). The ecological validity of tests of executive function. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 4, 547–558. Downloaded (free access) on 12 October 2009. Retrieved from: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/4537/1/4537.pdf.Google Scholar
Cazalis, F., Azouvi, P., Sirigu, A., Agar, N. & Burnod, Y. (2001). Script knowledge after severe traumatic brain injury. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 7, 795–804.Google Scholar
Chevignard, M., Pillon, B., Pradat-Diehl, P., Taillefer, C., Rousseau, S., Le Bras, C., & Dubois, B. (2000). An ecological approach to planning dysfunction : Script execution. Cortex, 36, 649–669. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70543-4.Google Scholar
Clark-Carter, D. (1997). Doing quantitative psychological research: From design to report. Hove: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Cooper, R.P., & Shallice, T. (2000). Contention scheduling and the control of routine activities. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 17, 297–338. Downloaded (open access) on 12 October 2009. Retrieved from: http://www.sissa.it/cns/Articles/Cooper2000.pdf.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioural sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Cosentino, S., Chute, D., Libon, D., Moore, P., & Grossman, M. (2006). How does the brain support script comprehension? A study of executive processes and semantic knowledge in dementia. Neuropsychology, 20 (3), 307–318. DOI: 10.1037/0894-4105.20.3.307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dimoska-Di Marco, A., McDonald, S., Kelly, M., Tate, R., & Johnstone, S. (2011). A meta-analysis of response inhibition and Stroop interference control deficits in adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 33 (4), 471–485. Downloaded (free access) on 18 December 2014 from Research Online. Retrieved from: http://ro.uow.edu.au/hbspapers/1102.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dritschel, B.H., Kogan, L., Burton, A., Burton, E., & Goddard, F. (1998). Everyday planning difficulties following traumatic brain injury: A role for autobiographical memory. Brain Injury, 12, 875–886. DOI: 10.1080/026990598122098.Google Scholar
Duncan, J., Emslie, H., Williams, P., Johnson, R., & Freer, C. (1996). Intelligence and the frontal lobe: The organization of goal-directed behavior. Cognitive Psychology, 30, 257–303. DOI: 10.1006/cogp.1996.0018.Google Scholar
Emmanouel, A., Kessels, R.P.C., Mouza, E., & Fasotti, L. (2014). Sensitivity, specificity and predictive value of the BADS to anterior executive dysfunction. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 24 (1), 1–25. DOI: 10.1080/09602011.2013.863731.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Espinosa, A., Alegret, M., Boada, M., Vinyes, G., Valero, S., Martinez-Lage, P., . . . Tarraga, L. (2009). Ecological assessment of executive functions in mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer's disease. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 15 (5), 751–757. DOI: 10.1017/S135561770999035X.Google Scholar
Field, A. (2005). Discovering statistics using SPSS (2nd ed.). London: Sage.Google Scholar
Fortin, S., Godbout, L., & Braun, C.M.J. (2003). Cognitive structure of executive deficits in frontally lesioned head trauma patients performing activities of daily living. Cortex, 39 (2), 273–291. DOI: 10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70109-6.Google Scholar
Godbout, L., Cloutier, P., Bouchard, C., Braun, C.M.J., & Gagnon, S. (2004). Script generation following frontal and parietal lesions. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 26, 857–873. DOI: 1380-3395/04/2607-857$16.00.Google Scholar
Godbout, L., & Doyon, J. (1995). Mental representation of knowledge following frontal-lobe or postrolandic lesions. Neuropsychologia, 33, 1671–1696. DOI: 10.1016/0028-3932(95)00047-X.Google Scholar
Godbout, L., & Doyon, J. (2000). Defective representation of knowledge in Parkinson‟s disease: Evidence from a script-production task. Brain and Cognition, 44, 490–510. DOI: 10.1006/brcg.2000.1213.Google Scholar
Godbout, L., Grenier, M.C., Braun, C.M.J., & Gagnon, S. (2005). Cognitive structure of executive deficits in patients with frontal lesions performing activities of daily living. Brain Injury, 19, 337–348. DOI: 10.1080/02699050400005093.Google Scholar
Golden, C.J., Espe-Pfeifer, P., & Wachsler-Felder, J. (2000). Neuropsychological interpretation of objective psychological tests. New York: Springer US.Google Scholar
Grafman, J. (1989). Plans, actions and mental sets: Managerial knowledge units in the frontal lobes. In Perecman, E. (Ed.), Integrating theory and practice in clinical neuropsychology (pp. 93–138). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Grafman, J. (1994). Neuropsychology of the prefrontal cortex. In Zaidel, D. (Ed.), Handbook of perception and cognition (pp. 159–181). San Diego: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Grant, M., Ponsford, J., & Bennett, P.C. (2012). The application of goal management training to aspects of financial management in individuals with traumatic brain injury. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 22, 852–873. DOI: 10.1080/09602011.2012.693455.Google Scholar
Hartman, M., Steketee, M.C., Silva, S., Lanning, K., & Andersson, C. (2003). Wisconsin card sorting test performance in schizophrenia: The role of working memory. Schizophrenia Research, 63, 201–217. DOI: 10.1016/S0920-9964(02)00353-5.Google Scholar
Hurks, P., Schrans, D., Meijs, C., Wassenberg, R., Feron, F., & Jolles, J. (2010). Developmental changes in semantic verbal fluency: Analyses of word response generation as a function of time, clustering, and switching. Child Neuropsychology, 6 (4), 366–387. DOI: 10.1080/09297041003671184.Google Scholar
Kosmidis, M.H., Vlachou, C.H., Panagiotaki, P., & Kiosseoglou, G. (2004). The verbal fluency task in the greek population: Normative data, and clustering and switching strategies. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 10, 164–172. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1355617704102014.Google Scholar
Levin, H.S., Fletcher, J.M., Kufera, J.A., Harward, H., Lilly, M.A., Mendelsohn, D., . . . Eisenberg, H.M. (1996). Dimensions of cognition measured by the Tower of London and other cognitive tasks in head-injured children and adolescents. Developmental Neuropsychology, 12, 17–34. DOI: 10.1080/87565649609540638.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lezak, M.D. (1995). Neuropsychological assessment (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lezak, M.D., Howieson, D.B., & Loring, D.W. (2004). Neuropsychological assessment (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
McWilliams, J., & Schmitter-Edgecombe, M. (2008). Semantic memory organization during the early stage of recovery from traumatic brain injury. Brain Injury, 22, 243–253. DOI: 10.1080/02699050801935252.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, E.K., & Cohen, J.D. (2001). An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 24, 167–202. DOI: 0147-006X/01/0301-0167$14.00.Google Scholar
Miyake, A., Friedman, N.P., Emerson, M.J., Witzki, A.H., & Howeter, A. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex frontal lobe tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41, 49–100. DOI: 10.1006/cogp.1999.0734.Google Scholar
Oosterman, J.M., Oosterveld, S., Rikkert, M.G., Claassen, J.A., & Kessels, R.P.C. (2012). Medial temporal lobe atrophy relates to executive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease. International Psychogeriatrics, 24, 1474–1482. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1041610212000506.Google Scholar
Oosterman, J.M., Wijers, M., & Kessels, R.C.P. (2013). Planning or something else? Examining neuropsychological predictors of Zoo Map performance. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 20 (2), 103–109. DOI: 10.1080/09084282.2012.670150.Google Scholar
Shallice, T. (2002). Fractionation of the supervisory system. In Stuss, D.T. (Ed.), Principles of frontal lobe function (pp. 261–277). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sirigu, A., Cohen, L., Zalla, T., Pradat-Diehl, P., Van Eeckhout, P., Grafman, J., & Agid, Y. (1998). Distinct frontal regions for processing sentence syntax and story grammar. Cortex, 34, 771–778. DOI: 10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70780-9.Google Scholar
Sirigu, A., Zalla, T., Pillon, B., Grafman, J., Agid, Y., & Dubois, B. (1995). Selective impairments in managerial knowledge following pre-frontal cortex damage. Cortex, 31, 301–316. DOI: 10.1016/S0010-9452(13)80364-4.Google Scholar
Spikman, J.M. (2002). Checklist executieve stoornissen [checklist executive disorders]. Groningen: Internal Publication, University Medical Centre Groningen, the Netherlands.Google Scholar
Spreen, O., & Strauss, E. (1998). A compendium of neuropsychological tests: Administration, norms and commentary. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Stuss, D. (2006). Frontal lobes and attention: Processes and networks, fractionation and integration. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 12 (02), 61–271. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1355617706240384.Google Scholar
Stuss, D.T., & Alexander, M.P. (2000). Executive functions and the frontal lobes: A conceptual view. Psychological Research, 63, 289–298. Downloaded from (free access). Retrieved from: http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/~w3psy393/Stuss_PsychRes_2000.pdf.Google Scholar
Stuss, D.T., & Levine, B. (2002). Adult clinical neuropsychology: Lessons from studies of the frontal lobes. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 401–433. DOI: 0084–6570/02/0201-0401$14.00.Google Scholar
Stuss, D.T., Alexander, M.P., Hamer, L., Palumbo, C., Dempster, R., Binns, M., . . .Izukawa, D. (1998). The effects of focal anterior and posterior brain lesions on verbal fluency. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 4, 265–278. Downloaded on 12 October 2010. Retrieved from: http://journals.cambridge.org.proxy.ubn.ru.nl/download.php?file=%2FINS%2FINS4_03%2FS1355617798002653a.pdf&code=e562f275efcd5a90329e7a33e0a9df0e.Google Scholar
Stuss, D.T., Floden, D., Alexander, M.P., Levine, B., & Katz, D. (2001). Stroop performance in focal lesion patients: Dissociation of processes and frontal lobe lesion location. Neuropsychologia, 39, 771–786. DOI: 10.1016/S0028-3932(01)00013-6.Google Scholar
Stuss, D.T., Levine, B., Alexander, M.P., Hong, J., Palumbo, C., Hamer, L., . . .Izukawa, D. (2000). Wisconsin card sorting test performance in patients with focal frontal and posterior brain damage: Effects of lesion location and test structure on separable cognitive processes. Neuropsychologia, 38, 388–402. DOI: 10.1016/S0028-3932(99)00093-7.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1997). WAIS-III administration and scoring manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Wilson, B.A., Alderman, N., Burgess, P.W., Emslie, H., & Evans, J.J. (1996). Behavioral assessment of the dysexecutive syndrome (BADS). Bury St. Edmunds, UK: Thames Valley Test Company.Google Scholar
Wood, J.N., & Grafman, J. (2003). Human prefrontal cortex: Processing and representational perspectives. Nature Neuroscience Reviews, 4, 139–146. DOI: 10.1038/nrn1033.Google Scholar
Zalla, T., Sirigu, A., Pillon, B., Dubois, B., Grafman, J., & Agid, Y. (1998). Deficits in evaluating predetermined sequences of script events in patients with Parkinson's disease. Cortex, 34, 621–628. DOI: 10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70519-7.Google Scholar
Zalonis, I., Christidi, F., Bonakis, A., Kararizou, E., Triantafyllou, N.I., Paraskevas, G., . . . Vasilopoulos, D. (2009). The stroop effect in greek healthy population: Normative data for the Stroop neuropsychological screening test. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology: The Official Journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists, 24, 81–88. DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acp011.Google Scholar
Zalonis, I., Kararizou, E., Triantafyllou, N.I., Kapaki, E., Papageorgiou, S., Sgouropoulos, P., & Vassilopoulos, D. (2008). A normative study of the trail making test A and B in greek adults. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 22, 842–850. DOI: 10.1080/13854040701629301.Google Scholar
Zanini, S., Rumiati, R.I., & Shallice, T. (2002). Action sequencing deficit following frontal lobe lesion. Neurocase, 8, 88–99. DOI: 10.1093/neucas/8.1.88.Google Scholar
Zanini, S. (2008). Generalized script sequencing deficits following frontal lobe lesions. Cortex, 44, 140–149. DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2006.03.002.Google Scholar