Bechara A, Damasio A R, Damasio H, Anderson S W
Department of Neurology, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City 52242.
Cognition. 1994 Apr-Jun;50(1-3):7-15. doi: 10.1016/0010-0277(94)90018-3.
Following damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, humans develop a defect in real-life decision-making, which contrasts with otherwise normal intellectual functions. Currently, there is no neuropsychological probe to detect in the laboratory, and the cognitive and neural mechanisms responsible for this defect have resisted explanation. Here, using a novel task which simulates real-life decision-making in the way it factors uncertainty of premises and outcomes, as well as reward and punishment, we find that prefrontal patients, unlike controls, are oblivious to the future consequences of their actions, and seem to be guided by immediate prospects only. This finding offers, for the first time, the possibility of detecting these patients' elusive impairment in the laboratory, measuring it, and investigating its possible causes.
腹内侧前额叶皮质受损后，人类在现实生活决策中会出现缺陷，这与其他方面正常的智力功能形成对比。目前，尚无在实验室中进行检测的神经心理学探针，且导致这种缺陷的认知和神经机制一直难以解释。在此，我们使用一项新颖的任务，该任务以考虑前提和结果的不确定性以及奖惩的方式模拟现实生活决策，我们发现前额叶患者与对照组不同，他们对自己行为的未来后果浑然不觉，似乎仅受眼前前景的引导。这一发现首次提供了在实验室中检测这些患者难以捉摸的损伤、对其进行测量并探究其可能原因的可能性。
