Performance on tests of frontal lobe function reflect general intellectual ability

Obonsawin, Marc C.; Crawford, John R.; Page, Jessica; Chalmers, P; Cochrane, R H B; Low, G.C.

doi:10.1016/s0028-3932(01)00171-3

Cited by 84 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…For example, Obonsawin and colleagues (2002) found that, at least in healthy individuals, performance on most adult frontal cortex tasks is correlated with scores on the WAIS-R. Nevertheless, this study also found that some frontal cortex tasks were correlated with each other even when IQ was partialled out, and that one of the frontal cortex measures (a version of the WCST) was entirely independent of IQ (Obonsawin et al, 2002). The latter result indicates that at least some frontal cortex tasks may tap into specific cognitive functions which are relatively independent of general cognitive functioning.…”

Section: Frontal Cortex Task Performance At 9 Months and General Devementioning

confidence: 46%

“…Firstly, some studies of adult populations have indicated that performance on frontal cortex tasks is correlated with measures of general intelligence (Duncan, Burgess, & Emslie, 1995;Obonsawin et al, 2002). Secondly, in a largely correlational design such as the one used here, it is important to rule out the most likely confounds of potential relationships between frontal cortex tasks.…”

Section: Aims and Framework Of This Thesismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, if cognitive ability was found to account for most of the correlation between infant frontal cortex tasks, this would seriously question the specificity of the frontal cortex tasks. Of course it is possible that the frontal cortex tasks are measures of general cognitive functioning as some researchers have suggested (Duncan et al, 1995;Obonsawin et al, 2002). However, leaving this controversy aside (for discussion see Chapters 5 and 6), it is at least important to establish the relationship between the two sets of measures.…”

Section: Standardised Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Frontal Cortex Functioning in Infancy

Holmboe

2017

Preprint

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The functional status of the frontal cortex in infancy and early childhood is relatively poorly understood, and not much is known about the relationships between the few tasks developed to assess such functioning. The work presented in this thesis investigated these questions using an individual differences approach. Two cohorts of children were tested longitudinally on a set of tasks that have been associated with the frontal cortex in an attempt to establish whether these tasks share common functional mechanisms. Cohort 1 (n = 24) was tested at 9 and 24 months of age, and Cohort 2 (n = 104) was tested at 4 and 9 months of age. Furthermore, a new task, termed the Freeze-Frame task, was developed to assess inhibitory functioning in infancy using eye movements as the dependent measure. The relationship between performance on infant frontal cortex tasks and measures of temperament and general development was also investigated. Finally, a common genetic variation, the COMT Val 158 Met polymorphism, which has been specifically associated with variation in the neurobiology of the frontal cortex, was investigated in relation to performance on the infant frontal cortex tasks. The results indicated that frontal cortex tasks administered at the same age shared functional mechanisms.Performance indices from the new Freeze-Frame task were associated with performance on several other infant and toddler frontal cortex tasks. Associations between frontal cortex tasks administered at 9 months were stronger than between the tasks administered at 4 months.Longitudinal associations were generally lacking between 4 and 9 months, but some strong associations were found between 9 and 24 months of age. At 4 months of age frontal cortex tasks tended to be associated with better self-regulation as assessed by a parent-report temperament questionnaire. However, at 9 and 24 months of age this pattern had reversed indicating that more reactive children tended to perform better on frontal cortex tasks. Some of the frontal cortex tasks were associated with measures of general cognitive development. However, the associations found between frontal cortex tasks could generally not be accounted for by variation in general cognitive ability. The COMT Val 158 Met polymorphism was found to be related to a selective aspect of performance on the new Freeze-Frame task, but not to any of the other frontal cortex tasks. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for our understanding of frontal cortex functioning in infancy and early childhood.4

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Section: Frontal Cortex Task Performance At 9 Months and General Devementioning

confidence: 46%

Section: Aims and Framework Of This Thesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Standardised Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Frontal Cortex Functioning in Infancy

Holmboe

2017

Preprint

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“…A synchronised involvement of different cognitive mechanisms is highlighted by several studies 18 . In regards to the relationship between verbal fluency tests and the assessment of language and executive functions, evidence has shown that verbal fluency tasks partially depend on a linguistic component 19 , the executive aspects of language processing, specifically the construction of concepts 20 , and the strategies for lexical search used throughout the test 21 . In this context, other studies 5 suggest that the action verbal fluency test can be useful as an additional measure of executive functions and as a more sensitive indicator of the integrity of the frontal-subcortical circuit than the traditional semantic or phonemic fluency tests.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Action verbal fluency in Parkinson’s patients

Rodrigues

Ferreira

Coelho

et al. 2015

Arq. Neuro-Psiquiatr.

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We compared the performance of 31 non-demented Parkinson´s disease (PD) patients to 61 healthy controls in an action verbal fluency task. Semantic and phonemic fluencies, cognitive impairment and behavioural dysfunction were also assessed. The mean disease duration of PD was 9.8 years (standard deviation (SD) = 6.13). There were no age (U = 899.5, p = 0.616), gender(chi-square = 0.00, p = 1.00) or literacy (U = 956, p = 0.96) differences between the two groups. A significant difference was observed between the two groups in the action verbal fluency task (U = 406.5, p < 0.01) that was not found in the other fluency tasks. The education level was the only biographical variable that influenced the action (verb) fluency outcomes, irrespective of disease duration. Our findings suggest a correlation between the disease mechanisms in PD and a specific verb deficit, support the validity of the action (verb) fluency as an executive function measure and suggest that this task provides unique information not captured with traditional executive function tasks.

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“…Por isso, na análise do controle executivo, alguns autores enfatizam o planejamento, a geração de hipóteses e a abstração que nas provas neuropsicométricas podem ser atribuí-dos à "inteligência geral" ou fator "g". Outros enfatizam subgrupos específicos do sistema frontal e como esse fator interage com outros sistemas para produzir e controlar atividades complexas (Obonsawin et al, 2002).…”

Section: Considerações Finaisunclassified

Avaliação neuropsicológica das funções executivas: considerações metodológicas

Hamdan

Pereira

2009

Psicol. Reflex. Crit.

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ResumoO interesse pelo estudo das funções executivas tem crescido nos últimos anos. O objetivo deste artigo é revisar algumas questões metodológicas e conceituais relacionadas à avaliação neuropsicológica das funções executivas. As principais limitações e dicotomias relacionadas às funções executivas são apresentadas e a importância de um modelo teórico que fundamente os instrumentos de avaliação e suas interpretações clinicas analisada. Conclui-se que as evidências provenientes da investigação das funções executivas ainda não permitem a compreensão satisfatória desses processos. Sugere-se, a adoção de um modelo específico para o estudo das funções executivas. Palavras-chave: Neuropsicologia; Testes neuropsicológicos; Lobo frontal. AbstractThe article aims to review methodological and conceptual issues related to neuropsychological assessment of executive functions. The main limitations and dichotomies of current studies related to executive functions are presented and the importance of theoretical support to validate the instruments and their clinical interpretation are discussed. There is still the need of additional evidences on executive functions that allow a complete understanding of all the processes involved. Finally, it is suggested the adoption of a specific model that may guide the study of the executive functions.

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Performance on tests of frontal lobe function reflect general intellectual ability

Cited by 84 publications

References 48 publications

Frontal Cortex Functioning in Infancy

Frontal Cortex Functioning in Infancy

Action verbal fluency in Parkinson’s patients

Avaliação neuropsicológica das funções executivas: considerações metodológicas

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