A 28-year-old man with schizophrenia performs poorly on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, repeatedly sorting cards by a rule he has already been told is wrong and failing to shift to the new rule despite explicit feedback. This pattern of perseverative errors localises BEST to dysfunction of the:
- A Hippocampus
- B Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex ✓
- C Primary motor cortex
- D Cerebellar vermis
Correct answer: B. Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
Explanation
The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test probes set shifting, abstract reasoning and cognitive flexibility, functions subserved by the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Patients with schizophrenia show perseverative errors on this task, mirroring the executive deficits of the hypofrontality model. The hippocampus subserves memory consolidation, the primary motor cortex executes voluntary movement, and the cerebellar vermis coordinates posture and gait; none of these structures accounts for perseveration on rule shifting tasks.
Reference: Kaplan and Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry, 12th ed.
High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP
Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.