The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and the cognitive assessment of prefrontal executive functions: A critical update
The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and the cognitive assessment of prefrontal executive functions: A critical update
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DOI：
10.1016/j.bandc.2009.03.005
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发表时间：
2009-12-01
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Barcelo, Francisco
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Nyhus, Erika;Barcelo, Francisco
四十多年来，威斯康星州卡片分类测试（WCST）一直是前额叶功能最独特的测试之一。临床研究和最近的脑成像对这项测试作为额叶功能障碍标志的有效性和特异性提出了质疑。针对神经系统患者的临床研究证实，传统形式的 WCST 无法区分额叶病变和非额叶病变。此外，功能性脑成像研究表明，在 WCST 表演期间，额叶和非额叶大脑区域快速而广泛地激活。这些研究表明，对前额叶功能进行解剖学上的纯粹测试的概念不仅在经验上无法实现，而且在理论上也是不准确的。本综述的目的是探讨这些批评的原因，并通过结合新的方法论和概念进展来解决这些批评，以提高 WCST 分数的结构有效性及其与前额叶执行功能的关系。我们的结论是，这些目标可以通过利用理论指导的实验设计以及大脑活动的精确空间和时间采样来实现，然后使用前额叶功能的综合模型来例证这一点[即 Miller, E. K. (2000)。前额皮质和认知控制。 Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 1, 59-65.] 与认知控制的正式信息理论方法相结合 [Koechlin, E., & Summerfield, C. (2007)。前额叶执行功能的信息理论方法。认知科学趋势，11, 229-235.]。 (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. 保留所有权利。
For over four decades the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) has been one of the most distinctive tests of prefrontal function. Clinical research and recent brain imaging have brought into question the validity and specificity of this test as a marker of frontal dysfunction. Clinical studies with neurological patients have confirmed that, in its traditional form, the WCST fails to discriminate between frontal and non-frontal lesions. In addition, functional brain imaging studies show rapid and widespread activation across frontal and non-frontal brain regions during WCST performance. These studies suggest that the concept of an anatomically pure test of prefrontal function is not only empirically unattainable, but also theoretically inaccurate. The aim of the present review is to examine the causes of these criticisms and to resolve them by incorporating new methodological and conceptual advances in order to improve the construct validity of WCST scores and their relationship to prefrontal executive functions. We conclude that these objectives can be achieved by drawing on theory-guided experimental design, and on precise spatial and temporal sampling of brain activity, and then exemplify this using an integrative model of prefrontal function [i.e., Miller, E. K. (2000). The prefrontal cortex and cognitive control. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 1, 59-65.] combined with the formal information theoretical approach to cognitive control [Koechlin, E., & Summerfield, C. (2007). An information theoretical approach to prefrontal executive function. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11, 229-235.]. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.