Anderson V, Jacobs R, Harvey A S
Australian Centre for Child Neuropsychology Studies, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2005 Nov;11(7):817-31. doi: 10.1017/s1355617705051052.
Despite the potential impact on development, few studies have examined the influence of prefrontal lesions occurring prior to maturation of the central nervous system. This study investigates the effect of prefrontal lesions in general, as well as the impact of lesion laterality, with respect to attentional abilities. The sample comprised 36 children with prefrontal lesions and 40 healthy controls. Attentional function was assessed across four domains: selective, shifting and divided attention, and processing speed. Group mean performances for children with prefrontal lesions indicated global attentional deficits, with greatest difficulties for "higher-order" skills including shifting and divided attention. Children with left prefrontal lesions performed similarly to controls, with a specific deficit characterized by difficulties with on-line processing of auditory-verbal information. Right prefrontaj lesions were primarily associated with impairments in day-to-day executive functions, including reduced monitoring, poor shifting attention and disinhibition. Children with bilateral prefrontal lesions performed worse than controls on tasks requiring greater cognitive resources. These results provide evidence of the important role played by prefrontal cortex in the development of attentional skills, and the particular role of the right prefrontal cortex. The pattern of attention deficits observed following early prefrontal lesions suggests some lateralization of function within the frontal lobes, even during childhood.
尽管对发育可能有影响，但很少有研究考察中枢神经系统成熟之前发生的前额叶损伤的影响。本研究调查前额叶损伤的总体影响，以及损伤部位偏侧性对注意力能力的影响。样本包括36名患有前额叶损伤的儿童和40名健康对照。注意力功能通过四个领域进行评估：选择性、转换和分散注意力以及处理速度。前额叶损伤儿童的组平均表现显示出整体注意力缺陷，在包括转换和分散注意力在内的“高阶”技能方面困难最大。左前额叶损伤的儿童表现与对照组相似，其特定缺陷表现为在听觉语言信息的在线处理方面存在困难。右前额叶损伤主要与日常执行功能受损有关，包括监控减少、注意力转换困难和抑制解除障碍。双侧前额叶损伤的儿童在需要更多认知资源的任务上比对照组表现更差。这些结果证明了前额叶皮质在注意力技能发展中所起的重要作用，以及右前额叶皮质的特殊作用。早期前额叶损伤后观察到的注意力缺陷模式表明，即使在儿童时期，额叶内也存在一定的功能偏侧化。
