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Cognitive flexibility in neurological disorders: Cognitive components and event-related potentials
Florian Lange1, Caroline Seer2, Bruno Kopp3
1Department of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; Behavioral Engineering Research Group, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
|September 14, 2017
Summary
The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) assesses more than just cognitive flexibility. Deficits in WCST performance across various disorders highlight the need for a multi-component approach to understand cognitive function.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neurology
Background:
- Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) deficits are traditionally linked to prefrontal cortex (PFC) lesions.
- However, WCST impairments are observed in diverse neurological and psychiatric conditions, suggesting a broader basis than isolated PFC dysfunction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a multi-component framework for understanding WCST performance.
- To re-evaluate the WCST not as a pure measure of cognitive flexibility, but as a task reliant on multiple dissociable cognitive components.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent research on WCST performance deficits in various neurological disorders.
- Analysis of how different cognitive components contribute to WCST impairments.
Main Results:
- WCST deficits in different disorders are attributable to alterations in distinct cognitive components.
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-related WCST impairments are linked to frontoparietal changes affecting set shifting.
- Primary dystonia and Parkinson's disease-related WCST deficits are associated with frontostriatal changes impacting rule inference.
Conclusions:
- A multi-component approach is necessary to explain the widespread WCST deficits observed across neurological conditions.
- Understanding the specific cognitive components underlying WCST performance is crucial for clinical interpretation and diagnosis.
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