On the nature of Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance in schizophrenia.

Performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is widely reported to be impaired in patients with schizophrenia. It has been hypothesized that the performance deficit on the WCST in schizophrenia is related to a dysfunction of the frontal lobe, specifically the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This hypothesis was tested by comparing a group of patients with schizophrenia to patients with low grade right or left frontal lobe tumors and a group of patients with non-frontal high grade tumors. The results demonstrated a remarkable similarity in performance on the WCST between patients with schizophrenia and patients with right frontal lobe tumors. Patients with left frontal lobe tumors, non-frontal tumors, and normal control subjects did not show the same pattern of performance. This study provides support for frontal lobe dysfunction in the symptomatology of schizophrenia.

A case of bilateral thalamic lesions with anterograde amnesia and impaired implicit memory.

Thalamic nuclei appear to play an important role in memory functioning. Severe anterograde amnesia has been reported with lesions of the dorsomedial and anterior nuclei and their connections. We report the case of a woman with discrete thalamic lesions involving the anterior and dorsomedial nuclei who had a persistent anterograde amnesia. Contrary to a previous case report describing impairment only with explicit memory, this patient had impairment with both implicit and explicit memory. This case is discussed in terms of the relevant literature associating the diencephalon, amnesia, and implicit memory.

Migraines and other headaches: an approach to diagnosis and classification.

Headache is a symptom that accounts for over 18 million visits to physicians each year. In an effort to resolve inconsistencies and problems with the differentiation of specific types of headache, the International Headache Society (IHS) has established a classification system. For each major type of headache, the IHS classification specifies diagnostic criteria and recognized subtypes where appropriate. Migraine headaches are commonly encountered in clinical practice. Recognition and accurate diagnosis of migraine headache depend on a thorough history, appropriate physical examination and diagnostic testing.

Social blushing.

This article reviews theory and research regarding the physiology, situational and dispositional antecedents, behavioral concomitants, and interpersonal consequences of social blushing and offers a new theoretical account of blushing. This model posits that people blush when they experience undesired social attention. Puzzling questions involving blushing in solitude, the phenomenology of blushing, types of blushing, and blushing in dark-skinned people are discussed.