Ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions in humans eliminate implicit genderstereotyping

Patients with prefrontal cortex lesions and controls were administered an i mplicit association task (IAT) that measured the degree of association betw een male and female names and their stereotypical attributes of strength an d weakness. They also completed three questionnaires measuring their explic it judgment regarding gender-related stereotypical attributes. There were n o between-group differences on the explicit measures. On the IAT, patients with dorsolateral lesions and controls showed a strong association, whereas patients with ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions had a significantly l ower association, between the stereotypical attributes of men and women and their concepts of gender. This finding provides support for the hypothesis that patients with ventromedial prefrontal lesions have a deficit in autom atically accessing certain aspects of overlearned associated social knowled ge.