Classical Clinical Disorders Associated with Prefrontal Damage and Disorders of Higher Cortical Function

Schizophrenic Thought Disorders

Involve Frontal Lobe dysfunction.

Cortical Dementias

Types of dementia associated with cortical damage.

Impaired working memory

Associated with lesions of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Juvenile delinquency

Soft damage or dysfunction of the Prefrontal Cortex is associated with this.

Aphasia

Disturbance in one or more aspects of language processing due to brain damage.

Broca's Aphasia / Non-fluent Aphasia

Characterized by awkward articulation, limited vocabulary, and preservation of auditory comprehension.

Wernicke’s Aphasia / Fluent Aphasia

Includes paraphasia, logorrhea, and empty speech; associated with lesions in the left superior temporal lobe.

Anomic Aphasia

Difficulty finding words while other aspects of language remain intact.

Agnosias

Prevents recognition of sensory input despite intact senses.

Gertsmann Syndrome

Includes finger agnosia, agraphia, acalculia, and left-right confusion.

Prosopagnosia / face Blindness

Deficits in the ability to recognize faces.

Pure Word Deafness

Inability to comprehend spoken language despite intact reading and writing abilities.

Cortical Astereognosis / Tactile Agnosia

Inability to recognize an object by touch while retaining visual identification.

Apraxia

Disorder of skilled movements without evidence of tremor, muscle weakness or sensory dysfunction.