Publisher Summary A series of neurological and philosophical discussions has led to suggestions that space is a model of the environment, constructed from the temporal integration of successive perceptions, which model man as neurologically disposed to create and organize. The model is coordinated to social conventions. It develops and is vulnerable to dissolution. Studies of adults' knowledge about their macroenvironment suggest that human “maps” are not literally maps. Rather, they tend to be fragmented, distorted projectively, and are often several multiple “mini-spatial-representations.” Landmarks and routes are the minimal elements of spatial representation. Survey-representations incorporate configurational elements (outlines, graphic skeletons, figurative metaphors) and may be the final derivative of dense, richly interconnected, and hierarchically organized route maps. The notion of “main sequences” was introduced as a potential explanation for the extensive parallelisms identified among ontogenesis, microgenesis, the course of pathology, and the recovery of function following pathological insult. The development of the sequence of spatial representations in children conforms to the “main sequence” identified in the construction of spatial representation in adults.

/pdf/the-development-of-spatial-representations-of-large-scale-2vac6fj4ml.pdf

The development of spatial representations of large-scale environments

Two measures of relationship between Parts A and B of the Trail Making Test (TMT) were examined in a large, acute rehabilitation population (N = 497). A difference (B-A) and a ratio (B/A) score were calculated and compared to other neuropsychological measures. The difference score was found to be correlated highly with intelligence and severity of impairment and, to a lesser degree, with age, education, and memory functioning. The ratio measure was correlated moderately or showed no significant relationship with other variables. This finding supported the curvilinear nature of the relationship between the ratio measure and cerebral impairment, as suggested by Golden, Osmon, Moses, and Berg (1981). Both measures were examined for their ability to distinguish between right and left cerebral damage. Only a trend toward differentiating lateralized damage was found; the ratio measure and a geometric transformation of the ratio showed greater sensitivity than did the difference measure. Results are discussed in terms of the potential usefulness of TMT relationship measures in neuropsychological inference.

Relationships between parts A and B of the Trail Making Test.

.• Thirty-eight schizophrenics and 49 normal controls underwent magnetic resonance imaging. Midline sagittal cuts indicated that the schizophrenics had significantly smaller frontal lobes, as well as smaller cerebrums and craniums. The findings are consistent with some type of early developmental abnormality that might retard brain growth and therefore skull growth. These findings are confirmed on a smaller sample of patients on whom we have coronal cuts. Decreased cerebral and cranial size are associated with prominent negative symptoms, although decreased frontal size is not. Decreased cranial and cerebral size was also associated with impairment on some cognitive tests. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that some schizophrenics may have a type of early developmental abnormality associated with prominent negative symptoms and cognitive impairment. Further, the results suggest that schizophrenics may have a type of structural frontal system impairment. Thus, they provide anatomic evidence for the "hypofrontality hypothesis."

Structural abnormalities in the frontal system in schizophrenia. A magnetic resonance imaging study.

It has been suggested that mental states play an important role in determining behaviour and that mental state attributions ("theory of mind") underlie the ability to understand and predict other peoples' behaviour. Theory of mind was investigated in 31 patients with unilateral frontal lobe lesions (15 right-sided and 16 left-sided) by comparing their performance with that of 31 matched control subjects. The ability to infer first- and second-order beliefs was tested by requiring subjects to listen to stories in which a protagonist acted upon a false belief. Both patient groups exhibited significantly impaired performance on the two theory of mind measures. Both frontal lobe groups also exhibited a range of deficits in tests of executive functions, but analyses revealed that these seemed to be independent of theory of mind impairments. These findings are discussed in terms of the hypothesis of a specialized, adaptive brain system underlying theory of mind reasoning ability, and are related to observed difficulties in social functioning among patients with frontal lobe damage.

/pdf/theory-of-mind-impairments-and-their-relationship-to-2kpumid8p9.pdf

`Theory of mind' impairments and their relationship to executive functioning following frontal lobe excisions

The intent of the present paper is to provide a manual for the Memoryfor-Designs Test (MFD), which ;he authors first described in 1946 and 1948 (Graham & Kendall, 1946a; Kendall & Graham, 1948). These early articles reported data on standardization and validity of the test. Detailed instructions for administration and scoring were also made available privately (Graham & KendaU, 1946b). Because the test has continued to be used as a clinical and research tool, it appears desirable to consolidate the material previously published and to make available the results of additional experience with it.' The MFD involves the presentation of simple geometric designs and the reproduction of these designs from immediate memory. At the time of the original work with the MFD, it had long been thought that inability to perform such a task was associated with \"organic\" impairment (Foster, 1920). There was, however, no adequate test of this assumption. The MFD was developed to provide an instrument of sufficient reliability to use in research

Elaine L. Tarshes

Papers

Differential effects of lateralized brain lesions on the trail making test.