Persistent frontal dysfunction in an adolescent boy with a left frontal-caudate vascular lesion. A four-year follow-up

Relatively little is known of the neuropsychological consequences of isolated frontal-striatal lesions in children. We study the case of an adolescent boy who suffered a stroke in the left hemisphere at the age of 11. In addition to the expected frontal dysfunctions, the patient at first suffered lowered IQ and attention disorder with hyperactivity. Four years after the stroke, only frontal lobe dysfunctions (difficulties in planning, anticipating, responding, generating words, attending, and sequencing with loss of mental flexibility) persisted. The functional recovery might have come about because the right hemisphere striate assumed functions of the left hemisphere. The persistence of frontal dysfunctions favors specialization of the left frontal lobe and the relatively early maturity of this cortical structure.