Deficits in selective attention following bilateral anterior cingulotomy

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Neurosurgery

Background:

• Positron emission tomographic (PET) studies indicate the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is crucial for attention and high-level processing selection.
• Bilateral anterior cingulotomy, a procedure affecting the ACC, has not previously shown clear attentional deficits in patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate attentional performance in patients following bilateral anterior cingulotomy.
• To determine if cognitive tasks derived from PET activation studies can detect subtle deficits related to ACC function.

Main Methods:

• A patient undergoing bilateral anterior cingulotomy was tested before and after surgery using reaction time measures.
• Cognitive tasks previously used in PET studies to activate the ACC were employed.
• Standard neuropsychological measures were also administered for comparison.

Main Results:

• The patient exhibited specific, temporary deficits in attentional performance during the subacute postoperative period.
• Performance on standard neuropsychological tests remained unchanged.
• Attentional deficits resolved spontaneously several months after surgery.

Conclusions:

• The findings support the role of the anterior cingulate cortex in high-level processing selection.
• The study demonstrates the utility of PET-derived chronometric tasks for assessing cognitive deficits linked to specific brain regions.