An example of lack of frontal inhibition: the 'utilization behaviour'

The focus of this report is utilization behaviour (UB) conceived as part of the Environmental Dependency Syndrome following frontal damage. An historical sketch is provided on the many conceptualizations of the frontal lobe functions relevant to the understanding of UB. The detailed study of the neuropsychological picture presented by a patient (PG) with massive herpetic damage is then outlined. Emphasis is put on PG's prominent UB as well as on her several dissociations between impaired (as expected) and spared (non expected) cognitive abilities. Such dissociations are discussed with reference to the historical conceptualizations outlined above. The question is raised of whether a great inter-subjects variability of the topo-functional arrangements in the healthy frontal lobes could be the main cause of the variability of symptoms observed in patients with frontal lesions. Copyright 1998 Lippincott-Raven Publishers