When “happy” means “sad”: neuropsychological evidence for the right prefrontal cortex contribution to executive semantic processing

Samson, Dana; Connolly, Catherine; Humphreys, Glyn W.

Abstract

The contribution of the left inferior prefrontal cortex in semantic processing has been widely investigated in the last decade. Converging evidence from functional imaging studies shows that this region is involved in the “executive” or “controlled” aspects of semantic processing. In this study, we report a single case study of a patient, PW, with damage to the right prefrontal and temporal cortices following stroke. PW showed a problem in executive control of semantic processing, where he could not easily override automatic but irrelevant semantic processing. This case thus shows the necessary role of the right inferior prefrontal cortex in executive semantic processing. Compared to tasks previously used in the literature, our tasks placed higher demands on executive semantic processing. We suggest that the right inferior prefrontal cortex is recruited when the demands on executive semantic processing are particularly high.

Citation

Samson, D., Connolly, C., & Humphreys, G. W. (2007). When “happy” means “sad”: neuropsychological evidence for the right prefrontal cortex contribution to executive semantic processing. Neuropsychologia, 45(5), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.08.023

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2007
• Deposit Date: Aug 15, 2008
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 15, 2008
• Journal: Neuropsychologia
• Print ISSN: 0028-3932
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-3514
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 5
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.08.023
• Keywords: prefrontal cortex; right hemisphere; semantic processing; executive function; selection
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1017777
• Publisher URL: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/247/description#description