Wisconsin card sorting test as a measure of frontal pathology: A review

Abstract We reviewed studies of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) in which the test was administered to subjects with and without evidence of focal frontal-lobe dysfunction. This review indicated that few studies had investigated the differential performance of normals and those with frontal dysfunction. The evidence that frontal patients perform more poorly than nonfrontal patients is weak. There is insubstantial evidence to conclude that the WCST is a measure of dorsolateral-frontal dysfunction. The clinical utility of the test as a measure of frontal-lobe dysfunction is not supported nor is the use of the test as a marker of frontal dysfunction for research purposes.