Potential application of cross-modal stimulation for neurorehabilitation : the relatedness of performance on tasks measuring cognitive processes subserved by similar prefrontal substrates

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Rehabilitating people with prefrontal functional impairment has always been challenging. This study examined whether there are functional relationships between prefrontal processes subserved by similar neural regions. The aim was to shed light on the therapeutic potential of training one function to effect changes in another function, a phenomenon called cross-modal stimulation in neurorehabilitation. The study examined risky decision-making by people of high or low odour-identification ability because both processes are subserved by the orbitofrontal regions. METHOD: This question was examined in a sample of women (n = 44) with high or low odour-identification ability, classified according to their performance on the Odour Identification Test. Their risky decision-making was measured by the Risky Gains Task. RESULTS: The women with better odour-identification ability made more risky decisions. However, there was no such difference on another cognitive task (Choice RT and Suppress Test), the processing of which involves frontal substrates other than the orbitofrontal region. CONCLUSION: These findings provide preliminary insight into the phenomenon that performance on tests of prefrontal functions could relate to each other if the functions share similar prefrontal substrates.