Focused Review Article
Mapping task switching in frontal cortex through neuropsychological group studies
Tim Shallice 1, 2, Donald T. Stuss 3, 4*, Terence W. Picton 3, 4, Michael P. Alexander 5, 6 and Susan Gillingham 3
1 Cognitive Neuroscience Sector, SISSA, Italy
2 Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College, UK
3 Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Canada
4 Behavioral Neurology Unit, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, USA
5 Harvard Medical School, USA
6 Departments of Psychology and Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada
2 Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College, UK
3 Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Canada
4 Behavioral Neurology Unit, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, USA
5 Harvard Medical School, USA
6 Departments of Psychology and Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada
This paper considers evidence provided by large neuropsychological group studies and meta-analyses of functional imaging experiments on the location in frontal cortex of the subprocesses involved in the carrying out of task-switching paradigms. The function of the individual subprocesses is also considered in the light of analyses of the performance of normal subjects.
Keywords: task-switching, switch-cost, anterior attentional system, frontal lobes, focal lesions, reaction time, errors, review
Copyright: © 2008 Shallice, Stuss, Picton, Alexander and Gillingham. This is an open-access article subject to an exclusive license agreement between the authors and the Frontiers Research Foundation, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
*Correspondence: Donald T. Stuss, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, 3560 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6A 2E1. e-mail: dstuss@rotman-baycrest.on.ca
Citation: Shallice T, Stuss DT, Picton TW, Alexander MP and Gillingham S (2008) Mapping task switching in frontal cortex through neuropsychological group studies. Front. Neurosci. 2,1:79-85. doi:10.3389/neuro.01.013.2008
Received: 23 April 2008; paper pending published: 16 June 2008; accepted: 16 June 2008; published online: 15 July 2008.
Edited by:
Robert T. Knight, University of California Berkeley, USA
Reviewed by:
Marcel Brass, Ghent University, Belgium
Leon Y. Deouell, Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation, Hebrew University, Israel; The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Leon Y. Deouell, Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation, Hebrew University, Israel; The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
*Correspondence: Donald T. Stuss, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, 3560 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6A 2E1. e-mail: dstuss@rotman-baycrest.on.ca
