Assessment Of Frontal Lobe Dysfunction

Assessment Of Frontal Lobe Dysfunction It has been established that the frontal lobes play a major part in an individual’s decision making, planning, problem solving, social, emotional and behavioural skills. Consequently dysfunction of the frontal lobe can cause a wide range of symptoms (Kolb and Wishaw 1996) leading to relatively specific clinical dysfunction therefore a neuropsychological assessment is necessary to be carried out on the patient. The present study looks at the case of patient Mr. A who is reported to experience attention difficulties and problems with planning and organising after sustaining a head injury. Three neuropsychological tests have been used; WCST, TMT and TEA in order to identify the extent of the deficit. In line with previous research Mr. A’s performed poorly on tests and scored low in comparison to the normative scores. Other tests have also been suggested as well as strategies of rehabilitation for the patient. Frontal lobe located at the front of the cerebral hemisphere is the largest lobe in the brain associated with an individual’s personality and emotional control. The frontal lobes are responsible for planning, organising, selective attention, personality, behaviour and emotions. As well as this the frontal lobes are also involved in motor function (Passingham 1995), Spontaneity of behaviour (Kolb and Milner 1981), initiation, judgement, impulse control (Milner 1964, Miller 1985), social and sexual behaviour (Damasio 1985). More specifically the right frontal lobe is associated with an individual’s sense of humour, self awareness, self face recognition and episodic memory (Stuss 1991, Fink et al 1996, Wheeler et al 1997, Levine et al 1998, Craik et al 1999, Keenan et al 1999, Shammi and Stuss 1999). It is the orbitofrontal cortex that arbitrates empathic, civil and socially appropriate behaviour (Mega and Cummings 1994). Furthermore it is also reported that executive processes of the prefrontal lobe are responsible for planning, mon itoring, energizing, switching and inhibition (Stuss 2007). In the recent years cognitive neuroscience studies have shown that damage to the frontal lobe can affect high level of cognitive functions as well as an individual’s personality, their social behaviour, personal memories and their self awareness (Alexander et al 1979, Brazzelli et al 1994, Damasio 1994, Adolphs et al 1995, Channon and Crawford 1999, Rogers et al 1999, Stuss et al 2001). Studies have also shown that damage to the prefrontal lobe particularly damage to the ventromedial frontal is associated with poor decision making (Eslinger and Damasio 1985, Harlow 1999, Ackerly 2000). In addition to this damage to the left or right orbitofrontal results in personality changes including indifference or impaired social judgement, impaired pragmatics, deficient effective responsiveness, poor self-regulation and lack of ability to relate social situations with personal experience (Nauta 1973, Stuss and Benson 1983, Kacz marek 1984). Damage to the orbitofrontal cortex also results in the patient’s change of personality whereby they might become more irritable, labile, display lack of self restraint and fail to respond to the conventions of socially acceptable behaviour. In some case studies patients have reported descriptions of behavioural changes that are related to social difficulties such as egocentrism, insensitivity to social cues, unresponsiveness to another’s opinion, lack of self restraint, diminished foresight, impaired self monitoring, a propensity to show signs of inappropriate affect and social withdrawal (Eslinger and Damasio 1985, Eslinger et al 1992, Price et al 1990). The famous case of Phineas Gage was the first case study to highlight the impact of frontal lobe damage on an individual’s personality, decision making and social behaviour (Damasio 1994). Phineas Gage suffered an extreme injury to the frontal lobe when a 13 pound, 3-foot-long tamping rod when thro ugh his head; entering through his left cheek and exiting through the midline of his skull. Astonishingly after the event Gage still had the ability to walk, communicate and remain lucid and was examined by Dr Harlow (1848) who noticed the changes in his behaviour. In his report Harlow identified that from previously being identified as a smart, efficient, dependable and capable foreman by his employers and diligent, honest and well liked by friends, after his accident Gage became fitful, irreverent, foulmouthed liar, impatient, extravagant, anti social and profane especially when advice was given to him that he didn’t like (Harlow 1868).

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Entrepreneurship - Essay Example Nevertheless, over the past ten years, healthcare industry has experienced tremendous growth which has promoted and created an environment for entrepreneurship to occur in the industry (Christopher & Kaur, 2011). The entire healthcare field has therefore been affected by entrepreneurship both in positive and negative ways. The level of health care delivered in healthcare organizations have been affected by entrepreneurship in the field. New creative and innovative thoughts have been formulated in the health care industry as a result of entrepreneurial activities. On the other hand freedom of choice plus intellection freedom for both physicians and patients have been greatly hampered with due to entrepreneurship. The main focus of this paper is to describe the manner in which entrepreneurship has affected health care in the organization. It also address the positive and negative ways that entrepreneurship has affected the health care field including an example of a current entrepreneu rial business and how it has affected the way staff do their jobs or the way patients receive services. Ways in which entrepreneurship has affected health care The process of entrepreneurship has greatly affected and influenced the level of health care delivered in healthcare organizations. ... This therefore means that generally, entrepreneurship has positively affected health care field. Entrepreneurial activities have also created networks of access, social relationships and given both patients and physicians good experience in the field (Christopher & Kaur, 2011). A great transformational change in health care industry has been experienced as a result of entrepreneurship. Reduced costs of operation have been experienced in health care industry as a result of entrepreneurship. This is due to new arrivals of entrepreneurs in the field who takes over the market thus creates competition while eliminating inefficiencies such as high costs and poor services (Christopher & Kaur, 2011). Entrepreneurship has made it possible for people to shop for healthcare in the United States and other developed nations across the world. Entrepreneurs have offered consumers with information regarding medical conditions, insurance options and drug information. This information has made it easy for patients across the world to order and arrange for medication in advance. Positive and Negative Ways that Entrepreneurship has affected the health care field Positive Entrepreneurship has created more opportunities in health care rather than exploitation. This is as a result of innovation which has done away with inefficiencies in the field of healthcare. Entrepreneurship has also lead to creation of more opportunities and enabled mobilization of resources (Christopher & Kaur, 2011). Entrepreneurs are people who visualized patterns thus end up creating more opportunities beyond human thoughts. Cultural and behavioral patterns have been created by physicians while investing in them. This has created more opportunities in health care industry that no one

What is organizational culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

What is organizational culture - Essay Example In other words, the organisation’s culture plays a pivotal role in shaping the behaviour of the people working in that particular company. The culture of the organization also plays an important role in creating member identity where employees are in a position to identify with the whole organization rather than their job positions or nature of profession. Emphasis is put on the aspect of collective identity not individualism since the aim of every organization is to achieve certain goals and objectives. This can only be possible if there is synergy of the efforts of all people employed in this particular organisation. The aspect of organizational culture is also used to exercise control in the organization where rules and regulations are used to shape the behaviour of the employees so that they conform to the expected standards at their workplace. Another important aspect related to the issue of organizational culture is that work activities in the organization are organized around groups rather than individuals. The success of any organization is mainly determined by its culture since it shapes the behaviour of the employees who are responsible for executing different tasks that are designed towards the attainment of the set goals and objectives of the