PSYCHOLOGY — FRANZ. 235 



FtanZf Shepherd L^ Mclyean Hospital, Waverley, Massachusetts. Grant No. 

 80. Livestigatioii 0/ the Junctions of the cerebrum with special rejcrence to 

 the functio7is of the association areas. (For previous report see Year Book 

 No. 4, p. 263.) $1,000. 



Abstract oj Report. — The work on the frontal lobes has been completed. 

 A short account of the results was read before the section of pathology and 

 physiology of the American Medical Association at the meeting in Boston, 

 June, 1906, and this paper is now in type for the journal of the association. 

 A fuller account of the experiments conducted by Dr. Franz, with a critique 

 of previous physiological and clinical investigations, will be published soon 

 in an appropriate physiological or psychological journal. The results of the 

 experiments and the conclusions to be drawn therefrom may be summed up 

 as follows : In monkeys as well as in cats the frontal lobes are normally 

 employed in the formation of simple sensory motor associations. When the 

 frontal lobes are destroyed recently formed habits are lost, but it has been 

 found possible for the animals to form new associations and to relearn old 

 tricks. When the associations are firmly established destruction of the 

 frontal lobes is not always followed by a loss of such habits. There are in 

 these cases all degrees of memory for any particular habit, from " perfect " 

 to a very decided hesitancy and slowing. In this latter event the cerebral 

 path is probably shortened, and the nervous connection of the sensory and 

 the motor elements of the association takes place through the connections 

 made in the mid-brain. The association has taken on the character of a 

 reflex. The experiments show clearly that not only are there mental changes 

 coincident with brain lesions, but that the mental difference is one that could 

 not be determined by simple observational methods. They suggest, further- 

 more, that for the determination of mental defect in man following cerebral 

 disturbances the usual clinical observational methods are not of great value, 

 and that more accurate physiological and psychological experiments should 

 be made. 



Work on the functions of the temporal lobes has been continued and an 

 article on this subject is in process of preparation. 



