The role of Brodmann Area 10 (BA10) in human multitasking and in theory of mind: A lesion study

MARÍA ROCA; TERESA TORRALVA; EZEQUIEL GLEICHGERRCHT; RUSSEL THOMPSON; JOHN DUNCAN; FACUNDO MANES

Honolulu

Encuentro; 63rd AAN 2011 Annual Meeting; 2011

American Academy of Neurology

OBJECTIVE: To examine the role of BA10 both in multitasking and in theory of mind in patients with frontal lobe lesions. BACKGROUND: A role for rostral prefrontal cortex - BA10 - has been proposed in multitasking, in particular, the selection and maintenance of higher order internal goals while other sub-goals are being performed. BA10 has also been related to the ability to infer someone else's feelings and thoughts, often referred to as theory of mind. While most of the data to support these views come from functional neuroimaging studies, supporting lesion studies are scant. DESIGN/METHODS: We compared a group of frontal patients whose lesions involved BA10, a group of frontal patients whose lesions did not affect this area, and a group of healthy controls on a multitasking task and a complex theory of mind task. In addition, we searched for correlations between performance and volume of damage within different subregions of BA10. RESULTS: Only the group with lesions involving BA10 showed deficits on multitasking and on the theory of mind when compared with control subjects. Significant correlations were found between multitasking performance and volume of damage in lateral right BA10, with no similar correlation for left lateral, left medial or right medial damage. For theory of mind, no correlations were found with volume of damage in any individual BA10 region. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first lesion study to demonstrate a specific role of BA10 in human multitasking and in theory of mind and to indicate a specific association of the lateral aspects of this brain region with the ability to maintain and retrieve higher internal goals.