Beyond a rod through the skull: A systematic review of lesion studies of the human ventromedial frontal lobe.

Neuropsychological studies from the past century have associated damage to the ventromedial frontal lobes (VMF) with impairments in a variety of domains, including memory, executive function, emotion, social cognition, and valuation. A central question in the literature is whether these seemingly distinct functions are subserved by different sub-regions within the VMF, or whether VMF supports a broader cognitive process that is crucial to these varied domains. In this comprehensive review of the neuropsychological literature from the last two decades, we present a qualitative synthesis of 184 papers that have examined the psychological impairments that result from VMF damage. We discuss these findings in the context of several theoretical frameworks and advocate for the view that VMF is critical for the formation and representation of schema and cognitive maps.