Discrepancy between social and nonsocial decision-making under uncertainty following prefrontal lobe damage: the impact of an interactionist approach.
Deficits in decision-making are thought to contribute significantly to socio-behavioral impairments of patients with frontal lobe damage. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis of whether the inappropriate social behavior of patients with frontal lesions can be viewed as the product of a general failure of decision-making ability or as the result of socio-cognitive impairment. We studied a group of patients with prefrontal lesions (FL patients, n = 15) and a group of matched healthy controls (n = 30) on the Iowa Gambling task (IGT) of nonsocial decision-making, environmental dependency phenomena (EDP) during social interaction, and the "reading the mind in the eyes" and "character intention task" of theory of mind (TOM) tasks. The FL patients were impaired in both TOM and EDP protocols but, surprisingly, they behaved appropriately in the IGT. In addition, FL patients with EDP did not differ in executive functioning, IGT and TOM measures from those who did not demonstrate these behavioral disorders. The right orbitofrontal cortex was associated with social decision-making deficits. By adopting an interactionist approach, this study raises the possibility of identifying components of social and nonsocial decision-making, which could be helpful in understanding the behavioral disorders of FL patients.
a LUNAM Université, Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire (UPRES EA 4638) , University of Angers , Angers , France.|b Neuropsychological Unit, Department of Neurology , University Hospital of Angers , Angers , France.
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J
Besnard
a LUNAM Université, Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire (UPRES EA 4638) , University of Angers , Angers , France.|b Neuropsychological Unit, Department of Neurology , University Hospital of Angers , Angers , France.
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D
Le Gall
a LUNAM Université, Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire (UPRES EA 4638) , University of Angers , Angers , France.|b Neuropsychological Unit, Department of Neurology , University Hospital of Angers , Angers , France.
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Chauviré
a LUNAM Université, Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire (UPRES EA 4638) , University of Angers , Angers , France.|b Neuropsychological Unit, Department of Neurology , University Hospital of Angers , Angers , France.|c Rehabilitation Unit , Regional Center for Functional Rehabilitation , Angers , France.
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G
Aubin
a LUNAM Université, Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire (UPRES EA 4638) , University of Angers , Angers , France.|b Neuropsychological Unit, Department of Neurology , University Hospital of Angers , Angers , France.
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F
Etcharry-Bouyx
a LUNAM Université, Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire (UPRES EA 4638) , University of Angers , Angers , France.|b Neuropsychological Unit, Department of Neurology , University Hospital of Angers , Angers , France.
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P
Allain
D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012938:Social Perception; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000502:physiology
Iowa gambling task; environmental dependency phenomena; interactionism; social cognition; social decision-making