FRONTAL-LOBE LESIONS, DIFFUSE DAMAGE, AND NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING IN TRAUMATIC BRAIN-INJURED PATIENTS

This study quantified lesion volume in relation to damage location and executive functioning in traumatic brain-injured (TBI) patients. Magn etic resonance (MR) scans of 68 TBI patients were analyzed by taking v olumetric measures of lesion sites. Patients were grouped according th e presence/absence of frontal lobe lesions. Measures of frontal lesion volume were studied as predictors for outcome on designated tests of executive functioning (Halstead Category Test and Wisconsin Card Sorti ng Test). Results showed no significant differences in level of defici t between groups. In addition, no significant differences were found b etween groups on other tests of neuropsychological functioning (Trail Making Test, Parts A and B, and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revi sed). These results suggest that tests that are traditionally used to detect ''frontal lobe'' damage may not be adequate for distinguishing specific frontal lobe dysfunction, and do not add anything unique abou t frontal lobe integrity and neuropsychological functioning in TBI pat ients.