title: [The evaluation of lateralized frontal lobe function in the patients with autistic or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder].
abstract: The prefrontal lobes are involved in two functionally distinct cognitive selection mechanisms: processing based on internal representation, such as planning (context-dependent reasoning) and exploratory processing of novel cognitive situations (context-independent reasoning). On the basis of this working hypothesis, a cognitive bias task (CBT; Goldberg, 1994), designed as an activation procedure representing contextual reasoning, was used to explore developmental disorders of lateralization in the frontal lobes in autistic disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The subjects included 3 patients with autistic disorder, 4 with ADHD. Ten normal right-handed males served as controls. In CBT, a high score indicated consistency of choice: a context dependent selection bias, and a low score showed independent selection bias. The autistic group showed a score significant lower than those in controls (p < 0.01). The ADHD group had also a lower score. These findings implicate a deficit in the development of hemispheric specialization in the symptoms of these developmental disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Yamanashi Medical University, Nakakoma-gun, Yamanashi.
authors.forename: Kakurou
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aoyagi
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aihara
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kanemura
authors.forename: Miyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Serizawa
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwadare
authors.forename: Shinpei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakazawa
mesh_terms: D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans