[Frontal dysexecutive syndromes].

Investigation of executive functions is an approach which began with the early description of behavioral disorders induced by frontal damage. The development of neuropsychology has led to the description of a large variety of cognitive disorders. This type of approach has generated a large number of tests which are still used in clinical practice. More recently, theoretical approaches have proposed an organization of executive processes and have documented the diversity of executive functions and related anatomy. These studies have deeply influenced the clinical approach, the assessment and the diagnosis of executive disorders. For clinical practice, these data favor specific assessment of certain key behavioral and cognitive deficits investigated with a battery of tests.