Original scientific paper
Electrophysiological Correlates Activated During the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)
Ana Havelka Mestrović
Marijan Palmović
Matija Bojić
Blanka Treselj
Branimir Nevajda
Abstract
In the present study we investigated changes in Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) during the Wisconsin Card Sorting
Test (WCST) in order to identify cognitive processes underlying the set-shifting aspects of the task and to determine test
sensitivity for frontal and prefrontal cortical areas. ERP’s were recorded from a sample of 20 healthy adults while they
performed a computerized version of the Grant & Berg (1948) version of the WCST, using 32-channel electroencephalogram
recordings. The ERP waveforms were calculated for the set-shifting trials, or more precisely for the 2nd and the 3rd
trials in the WCST series (set change condition) and compared to those associated with the last two trials in a series before
the set change (set unchanged condition). The results indicated changes in central frontal and parietal electrodes
during attentional set-shifting. More precisely, the P300 effect was replicated in this dataset, confirming the claim that
theWCST measures function of prefrontal cortical areas of the brain. However, the obtained wave resembled P3b indicating
the working memory component of the task. The results suggest that the frontal and parietal cortical activity is especially
involved in set-shifting during WCST performance. Therefore, these electrophysiological results are not consistent
with some recent studies that question the specificity of WCST as a measure of frontal and parietal lesions.
Keywords
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; set shifting; event related potentials; P300; prefrontal cortex
Hrčak ID:
84822
URI
Publication date:
10.7.2012.
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