Physiological activation of a cortical network during performance of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: A positron emission tomography study
Karen Faith Berman, Jill L. Ostrem, Christopher Randolph, James Gold, Terry E. Goldberg, Richard Coppola, Richard E. Carson, Peter Herscovitch, Daniel R. Weinberger
To determine the neural circuitry engaged by performance of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), a neuropsychological test traditionally considered to be sensitive to prefrontal lesions, regional cerebral blood flow was measured with oxygen-15 water and positron emission tomography (PET) while young normal subjects performed the test as well as while they performed a specially designed sensorimotor control task. To consider which of the various cognitive operations and other experiential phenomena involved in the WCST PET scan are critical for the pattern of physiological activation and to focus on the working memory component of the test, repeat WCST scans were also performed on nine of the subjects after instruction on the test and practice to criteria. We confirmed that performance of the WCST engages the frontal cortex and also produces activation of a complex network of regions consistently including the inferior parietal lobule but also involving the visual association and inferior temporal cortices as well as portions of the cerebellum. The WCST activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) remained significant even after training and practice on the test, suggesting that working memory may be largely responsible for the physiological response in DLPFC during the WCST and, conversely, that the DLPFC plays a major role in modulating working memory.
Published - Aug 1995
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
prefrontal cortex
regional cerebral blood flow
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Wisconsin Card Sorting Test Medicine & Life Sciences 100%
activation Social Sciences 69%
Positron-Emission Tomography Medicine & Life Sciences 66%
Short-Term Memory Medicine & Life Sciences 33%
Prefrontal Cortex Medicine & Life Sciences 32%
Psychological Practice Medicine & Life Sciences 24%
Oxygen-15 Medicine & Life Sciences 19%
Berman, K. F., Ostrem, J. L., Randolph, C., Gold, J., Goldberg, T. E., Coppola, R., Carson, R. E., Herscovitch, P., & Weinberger, D. R. (1995). Physiological activation of a cortical network during performance of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: A positron emission tomography study. Neuropsychologia, 33(8), 1027-1046. https://doi.org/10.1016/0028-3932(95)00035-2
Physiological activation of a cortical network during performance of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test : A positron emission tomography study. / Berman, Karen Faith; Ostrem, Jill L.; Randolph, Christopher; Gold, James; Goldberg, Terry E.; Coppola, Richard; Carson, Richard E.; Herscovitch, Peter; Weinberger, Daniel R.
In: Neuropsychologia, Vol. 33, No. 8, 08.1995, p. 1027-1046.
Berman, KF, Ostrem, JL, Randolph, C, Gold, J, Goldberg, TE, Coppola, R, Carson, RE, Herscovitch, P & Weinberger, DR 1995, 'Physiological activation of a cortical network during performance of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: A positron emission tomography study', Neuropsychologia, vol. 33, no. 8, pp. 1027-1046. https://doi.org/10.1016/0028-3932(95)00035-2
Berman KF, Ostrem JL, Randolph C, Gold J, Goldberg TE, Coppola R et al. Physiological activation of a cortical network during performance of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: A positron emission tomography study. Neuropsychologia. 1995 Aug;33(8):1027-1046. https://doi.org/10.1016/0028-3932(95)00035-2
Berman, Karen Faith ; Ostrem, Jill L. ; Randolph, Christopher ; Gold, James ; Goldberg, Terry E. ; Coppola, Richard ; Carson, Richard E. ; Herscovitch, Peter ; Weinberger, Daniel R. / Physiological activation of a cortical network during performance of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test : A positron emission tomography study. In: Neuropsychologia. 1995 ; Vol. 33, No. 8. pp. 1027-1046.
@article{a196c2762c3946778791a5f0440cdaa3,
title = "Physiological activation of a cortical network during performance of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: A positron emission tomography study",
abstract = "To determine the neural circuitry engaged by performance of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), a neuropsychological test traditionally considered to be sensitive to prefrontal lesions, regional cerebral blood flow was measured with oxygen-15 water and positron emission tomography (PET) while young normal subjects performed the test as well as while they performed a specially designed sensorimotor control task. To consider which of the various cognitive operations and other experiential phenomena involved in the WCST PET scan are critical for the pattern of physiological activation and to focus on the working memory component of the test, repeat WCST scans were also performed on nine of the subjects after instruction on the test and practice to criteria. We confirmed that performance of the WCST engages the frontal cortex and also produces activation of a complex network of regions consistently including the inferior parietal lobule but also involving the visual association and inferior temporal cortices as well as portions of the cerebellum. The WCST activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) remained significant even after training and practice on the test, suggesting that working memory may be largely responsible for the physiological response in DLPFC during the WCST and, conversely, that the DLPFC plays a major role in modulating working memory.",
keywords = "Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, frontal lobe, positron emission tomography, prefrontal cortex, regional cerebral blood flow, working memory",
author = "Berman, {Karen Faith} and Ostrem, {Jill L.} and Christopher Randolph and James Gold and Goldberg, {Terry E.} and Richard Coppola and Carson, {Richard E.} and Peter Herscovitch and Weinberger, {Daniel R.}",
journal = "Neuropsychologia",
T1 - Physiological activation of a cortical network during performance of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
T2 - A positron emission tomography study
AU - Berman, Karen Faith
AU - Ostrem, Jill L.
AU - Randolph, Christopher
AU - Gold, James
AU - Goldberg, Terry E.
AU - Coppola, Richard
AU - Carson, Richard E.
AU - Herscovitch, Peter
AU - Weinberger, Daniel R.
N2 - To determine the neural circuitry engaged by performance of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), a neuropsychological test traditionally considered to be sensitive to prefrontal lesions, regional cerebral blood flow was measured with oxygen-15 water and positron emission tomography (PET) while young normal subjects performed the test as well as while they performed a specially designed sensorimotor control task. To consider which of the various cognitive operations and other experiential phenomena involved in the WCST PET scan are critical for the pattern of physiological activation and to focus on the working memory component of the test, repeat WCST scans were also performed on nine of the subjects after instruction on the test and practice to criteria. We confirmed that performance of the WCST engages the frontal cortex and also produces activation of a complex network of regions consistently including the inferior parietal lobule but also involving the visual association and inferior temporal cortices as well as portions of the cerebellum. The WCST activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) remained significant even after training and practice on the test, suggesting that working memory may be largely responsible for the physiological response in DLPFC during the WCST and, conversely, that the DLPFC plays a major role in modulating working memory.
AB - To determine the neural circuitry engaged by performance of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), a neuropsychological test traditionally considered to be sensitive to prefrontal lesions, regional cerebral blood flow was measured with oxygen-15 water and positron emission tomography (PET) while young normal subjects performed the test as well as while they performed a specially designed sensorimotor control task. To consider which of the various cognitive operations and other experiential phenomena involved in the WCST PET scan are critical for the pattern of physiological activation and to focus on the working memory component of the test, repeat WCST scans were also performed on nine of the subjects after instruction on the test and practice to criteria. We confirmed that performance of the WCST engages the frontal cortex and also produces activation of a complex network of regions consistently including the inferior parietal lobule but also involving the visual association and inferior temporal cortices as well as portions of the cerebellum. The WCST activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) remained significant even after training and practice on the test, suggesting that working memory may be largely responsible for the physiological response in DLPFC during the WCST and, conversely, that the DLPFC plays a major role in modulating working memory.
KW - Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
KW - frontal lobe
KW - positron emission tomography
KW - prefrontal cortex
KW - regional cerebral blood flow
KW - working memory
JO - Neuropsychologia
JF - Neuropsychologia