Disturbances of Higher Mental Functional Systems in the Presence of Local Brain Lesions

Abstract

The systematic principle of the structure of the higher mental functions and of their graded localization have been explained, and the complexity of organization that distinguishes the human cerebral cortex has been discussed. What bearing have these matters on the disturbances of higher mental functions in the presence of circumscribed brain lesions? What principles must guide the approach to the local pathology of the cerebral cortex? These are crucial questions, and they must be examined closely before the concrete facts pertaining to the pathology underlying higher human cortical functions are analyzed.