Abstract

This chapter contrasts normal cerebral and cognitive development with that of children who have sustained frontal pathology. It focuses specifically on the domain of executive function, with the assumption that frontal regions are essential to the development and implementation of efficient executive skills. It discusses two studies from that illustrate the impact of frontal lobe pathology during childhood and the problems of assessing these skills accurately with current methodologies. The first study describes an ongoing program of research that examines the range of executive deficits exhibited by children who have sustained traumatic brain injury involving the frontal regions. The second study investigates the impact of focal frontal lesions during childhood, with an emphasis on approaches to the measurement of executive function.