Utilization behavior

Utilisation Behaviour (UB) denotes the appropriate usage of an object by a patient, however at an inappropriate situation. Patients are compelled by the visual, visual-tactile presentation to grasp and use the object kept in front of them. UB is observed in patients having unilateral or bilateral frontal lesions. It is considered to be an extension of magnetic apraxia, which is defined as bilateral manual grasping behavior. The proposed hypothesis is that in frontal lesions there is suppression of the inhibitory effect of frontal lobe on parietal lobe. Neurological models to explain this phenomenon to occur as a result of loss of inhibitory biological system within the brain. A disturbance of balance between the patient's dependence on and independence from the outside world is believed to be present in such cases. From a cognitive point of view, three models have been described. Since its first description by Lhermitte in 1983, UB remains to be an interesting neurological phenomenon. We present a case of UB in a patient of fronto-temporal dementia and also summarise the neurological and cognitive models that explain this behaviour.