R. Dias et al., PRIMATE ANALOG OF THE WISCONSIN CARD SORTING TEST - EFFECTS OF EXCITOTOXIC LESIONS OF THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX IN THE MARMOSET, Behavioral neuroscience, 110(5), 1996, pp. 872-886
Using a primate analogue of the Wisconsin Card Sort Test, this study d
emonstrated, for the first time, that lesions of the prefrontal cortex
in monkeys produce a qualitatively similar impairment in attentional
set-shifting to that seen following prefrontal cortical damage in huma
ns. Although damage to the prefrontal cortex did not disrupt the abili
ty of marmosets, a New World monkey, to maintain an attentional set, i
t did disrupt their ability to shift an attentional set. It also impai
red their performance on discrimination reversal, object retrieval, an
d spatial delayed response, consistent with the effects of prefrontal
damage in Old World monkeys. Comparison of the cognitive processes und
erlying discrimination reversal, object retrieval, and attentional set
-shifting reveals the various types of inhibitory control provided by
the prefrontal cortex.