Background/Aim. Emotional reactions have been documented after tumor lesions and the other damages of the brain.
The aim of this paper was to examine the correlation between
frontal lobe lesions and emotional reactions in patients with
stroke. Methods. The research included 118 patients after
stroke. Lesion localization was defined on computed axial tomography records, whereas the area and perimeter of lesion
were measured by AutoCAD 2004 software. Examinations by
means of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety and Depression (HRSA and HRSD) were carried out 11–40 days after
stroke. Statistic data were processed by simple linear/nonlinear
regression, Cox’s and the generalized linear model. Results. A
higher frequency of emotional reactions, i.e. anxiety, was determined in women after stroke (p = 0.024). A negative correlation between the lesion size and the intensity of anxiety manifestations was determined (Spearman’s r = -0.297; p = 0.001).
Anxiety was more frequent in patients with frontal lobe lesions
in the dominant hemisphere (interaction: frontal lesion * hand
dominant hemisphere, p = 0.017). Also, HRSD score values
showed the tendency for lesser decline in case of greater frontal
lobe lesions in relation to lesions of other regions of prosencephalon (interaction: frontal lesion * lesion area, p = 0.001).
Conclusion. The results of this study indicate the correlation
between evolutionary younger structures of the central nervous
system and emotional reactions of man. Therefore, it is necessary to undertake proper early psychopharmacotherapy in the
vulnerable group of patients.