The Impact of Executive Functions and Emotional Intelligence on Iowa Gambling Task Performance: Focus on Right Frontal Lobe Damage

Decision-making in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) has been intensively studied regarding both the "hot" and "cold" components. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex is a key region involved in processing somatic marker information, though recent findings suggest dorsolateral regions are also important. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is also known as a substrate of executive functions-the cold component of decision-making. However, there is contradictory evidence about the role of executive functions, as well as the hot component of decision-making-emotional intelligence. Previous findings suggest that patients with right frontal lobe lesions find decision-making more problematic in IGT. The goal of this study is to replicate previous findings on IGT performance in patients with dorsolateral lesions compared to controls.