A patient with a frontal lobe tumor perseverates on incorrect sorting rules on card-sorting testing, fails to plan a sequence of actions, and shows intact memory and language. The cognitive functions most affected here depend primarily on which cortical region?

• A Inferior temporal cortex
• B Orbitomedial prefrontal cortex
• C Primary motor cortex
• D Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex ✓

Explanation

Working memory, planning, set shifting, and abstraction are functions of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, classically tested by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, on which patients with dorsolateral lesions perseverate. Orbitomedial prefrontal damage instead produces disinhibition, emotional lability, and impaired social judgment with preserved sorting performance, while inferior temporal cortex is involved in visual object recognition.

Reference: Kandel, Principles of Neural Science, 6th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.