The Brixton Spatial Anticipation Test is a well-established test of executive function that evaluates the capacity to abstract, follow, and switch rules. There has been remarkably little systematic analysis of Brixton test performance in the prototypical neurodegenerative disorder of the frontal lobes: behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) or evaluation of the test’s ability to distinguish frontal from temporal lobe degenerative disease. We carried out a quantitative and qualitative analysis of Brixton performance in 76 patients with bvFTD and 34 with semantic dementia (SD) associated with temporal lobe degeneration. The groups were matched for demographic variables and illness duration. The bvFTD group performed significantly more poorly (U = 348, p < .0001, r = .58), 53% of patients scoring in the poor–impaired range compared with 6% of SD patients. Whereas bvFTD patients showed problems in rule acquisition and switching, SD patients did not, despite their impaired conceptual knowledge. Error analysis revealed more frequent perseverative errors in bvFTD, particularly responses unconnected to the stimulus, as well as random responses. Stimulus-bound errors were rare. Within the bvFTD group, there was variation in performance profile, which could not be explained by demographic, neurological, or genetic factors. The findings demonstrate sensitivity and specificity of the Brixton test in identifying frontal lobe degenerative disease and highlight the clinical value of qualitative analysis of test performance. From a theoretical perspective, the findings provide evidence that semantic knowledge and the capacity to acquire rules are dissociable. Moreover, they exemplify the separable functional contributions to executive performance.

中文翻译：

---

Brixton 测试对额颞叶痴呆的不同表现

Brixton 空间预期测试是一种行之有效的执行功能测试，用于评估抽象、遵循和转换规则的能力。Brixton 测试在额叶原型神经退行性疾病中的表现非常少：行为变异额颞叶痴呆 (bvFTD) 或评估测试区分额叶和颞叶退行性疾病的能力。我们对 76 名 bvFTD 和 34 名与颞叶退化相关的语义性痴呆 (SD) 患者的 Brixton 表现进行了定量和定性分析。这些组在人口统计学变量和疾病持续时间方面进行了匹配。bvFTD 组的表现明显更差（U  = 348，p  < .0001，r = .58)，53% 的患者评分在差值范围内，而 SD 患者的这一比例为 6%。bvFTD 患者在规则获取和转换方面表现出问题，而 SD 患者没有，尽管他们的概念知识受损。错误分析揭示了 bvFTD 中更频繁的持续错误，特别是与刺激无关的反应，以及随机反应。刺激约束错误很少见。在 bvFTD 组中，表现特征存在差异，这无法用人口统计学、神经学或遗传因素来解释。这些发现证明了 Brixton 测试在识别额叶退行性疾病方面的敏感性和特异性，并突出了测试性能定性分析的临床价值。从理论的角度来看，调查结果提供证据表明语义知识和获取规则的能力是可分离的。此外，它们举例说明了对执行绩效的可分离功能贡献。