title: Impairments in proverb interpretation following focal frontal lobe lesions.
abstract: The proverb interpretation task (PIT) is often used in clinical settings to evaluate frontal "executive" dysfunction. However, only a relatively small number of studies have investigated the relationship between frontal lobe lesions and performance on the PIT. We compared 52 patients with unselected focal frontal lobe lesions with 52 closely matched healthy controls on a proverb interpretation task. Participants also completed a battery of neuropsychological tests, including a fluid intelligence task (Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices). Lesions were firstly analysed according to a standard left/right sub-division. Secondly, a finer-grained analysis compared the performance of patients with medial, left lateral and right lateral lesions with healthy controls. Thirdly, a contrast of specific frontal subgroups compared the performance of patients with medial lesions with patients with lateral frontal lesions. The results showed that patients with left frontal lesions were significantly impaired on the PIT, while in patients with right frontal lesions the impairments approached significance. Medial frontal patients were the only frontal subgroup impaired on the PIT, relative to healthy controls and lateral frontal patients. Interestingly, an error analysis indicated that a significantly higher number of concrete responses were found in the left lateral subgroup compared to healthy controls. We found no correlation between scores on the PIT and on the fluid intelligence task. Overall our results suggest that specific regions of the frontal lobes contribute to the performance on the PIT.
authors.affiliation: National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Box 37 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shallice
authors.forename: Gail
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: MacPherson
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Woollett
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bozzali
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cipolotti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000293:injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019365:Metaphor; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: Executive function; Fluid intelligence; PFC; Proverbs