Dissociation between Verbal Response Initiation and Suppression after Prefrontal Lesions

Emmanuelle Volle, Angela de Lacy Costello, Laure M. Coates, Catrin McGuire, Karren Towgood, Sam Gilbert, Serge Kinkingnehun, Jane E. McNeil, Richard Greenwood, Ben Papps, Martin van den Broeck, Paul W. Burgess

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

49 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Some of the most striking symptoms after prefrontal damage are reduction of behavioral initiation and inability to suppress automatic behaviors. However, the relation between these 2 symptoms and the location of the lesions that cause them are not well understood. This study investigates the cerebral correlates of initiation and suppression abilities assessed by the Hayling Sentence Completion Test, using the human lesion approach. Forty-five patients with focal brain lesions and 110 healthy matched controls were examined. We combined a classical group approach with 2 voxel-based lesion methods. The results show several critical prefrontal regions to Hayling Test performance, associated with either common or differential impairment in "initiation" and "suppression" conditions. A crucial role for medial rostral prefrontal cortex (BA 10) in the initiation condition was shown by both group and lesion-mapping methods. A posterior inferolateral lesion provoked both initiation and suppression slowness, although to different degrees. An orbitoventral region was associated with errors in the suppression condition. These findings are important for clinical practice since they indicate that the brain regions required to perform a widely used and sensitive neuropsychological test but also shed light on the regions crucial for distinct components of adaptative behaviors, in particular, rostral prefrontal cortex.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2428-2440
Number of pages13
JournalCerebral Cortex
Volume22
Issue number10
Early online date17 Nov 2011
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2012

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