ABSTRACT
Because many patients with frontal lesions have either none or only a few of the features described above, and different patients may show different features, one might question whether it is appropriate to use the term "frontal lobe syndrome". The terms "dysexecutive syndrome" (Baddeley & Wilson, 1988) or "adaptive behavioural syndrome" are preferable since they make no assumptions concerning the area of the brain responsible for the dysfunctional behaviour. The term "syndrome" refers to a constellation of signs or symptoms that consistently appear together and describe a common complaint. Therefore it may be useful to use this term in the clinical context in the case of a rare number of patients, but "syndrome" is less useful when more precise communication is necessary (i.e. in a research context or in reference to a clinical neuropsychological assessment). The term "executive dysfunction", the title of this chapter, is often used when no localisation or syndromic implications are being made.
