Spatial Cognition: Where We Were and Where We Are

Some highlights of the ongoing study of visuospatial cognition from Descartes to the advent of functional neuroimaging are reviewed. We emphasize that parietal cortex contains multiple representations of space, appropriate to the demands of perception and action in near and far space. Converging evidence from the behavioral effects of relatively focal brain lesions on different aspects of spatial cognition and from the locus of maximal physiological activation when normal volunteers perform spatial tasks is described. Clinical pathologies of spatial attention, including visual extinction, simultanagnosia, and unilateral neglect, are examined for the light they cast on the basic functions of brain circuits involving the parietal lobes.

[1]  H. Liepmann.  Drei Aufsätze aus dem Apraxiegebiet , 1908 .

[2]  R. Bálint.  Seelenlähmung des “Schauens”, optische Ataxie, räumliche Störung der Aufmerksamkeit. pp. 51–66 , 1909 .

[3]  G. Holmes.  DISTURBANCES OF VISUAL ORIENTATION , 1918, The British journal of ophthalmology.

[4]  G. Holmes,et al.  DISTURBANCES OF SPATIAL ORIENTATION AND VISUAL ATTENTION, WITH LOSS OF STEREOSCOPIC VISION , 1919 .

[5]  W. R. Brain.  VISUAL DISORIENTATION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO LESIONS OF THE RIGHT CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE , 1941 .

[6]  O. L. Zangwill,et al.  DISORDERS OF VISUAL SPACE PERCEPTION ASSOCIATED WITH LESIONS OF THE RIGHT CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE , 1944 .

[7]  O. Zangwill,et al.  A case of topographical disorientation associated with a unilateral cerebral lesion. , 1945, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[8]  O. L. Zangwill,et al.  Visual-spatial agnosia associated with lesions of the right cerebral hemisphere. , 1950, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[9]  O. L. Zangwill,et al.  A further study of visual-spatial agnosia. , 1957, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[10]  A. Luria,et al.  Disorders of "simultaneous perception" in a case of bilateral occipito-parietal brain injury. , 1959, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[11]  Noam Chomsky,et al.  Language and Mind , 1973 .

[12]  E. Bisiach,et al.  Unilateral Neglect of Representational Space , 1978, Cortex.

[13]  B. Bridgeman,et al.  Relation between cognitive and motor-oriented systems of visual position perception. , 1979 .

[14]  C. Thinus-Blanc,et al.  Cognitive Processes and Spatial Orientation in Animal and Man , 1987 .

[15]  J. Paillard,et al.  Cognitive Versus Sensorimotor Encoding of Spatial Information , 1987 .

[16]  J. Marshall,et al.  Blindsight and insight in visuo-spatial neglect , 1988, Nature.

[17]  M. Posner,et al.  The attention system of the human brain. , 1990, Annual review of neuroscience.

[18]  J. Marshall,et al.  Left neglect for near but not far space in man , 1991, Nature.

[19]  Gary Hatfield.  The Natural and the Normative: Theories of Spatial Perception from Kant to Helmholtz , 1991 .

[20]  J. Marshall,et al.  The bisection of horizontal and radial lines: a case study of normal controls and ten patients with left visuospatial neglect. , 1993, The International journal of neuroscience.

[21]  J. Marshall,et al.  Independent Properties of Normal Hemispheric Specialization Predict Some Characteristics of Visuo-Spatial Neglect , 1994, Cortex.

[22]  John C. Marshall,et al.  Seeing the forest but only half the trees? , 1995, Nature.

[23]  Richard S. J. Frackowiak,et al.  Recalling Routes around London: Activation of the Right Hippocampus in Taxi Drivers , 1997, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[24]  C D Frith,et al.  Neural mechanisms involved in the processing of global and local aspects of hierarchically organized visual stimuli. , 1997, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[25]  A. Berthoz,et al.  Mental navigation along memorized routes activates the hippocampus, precuneus, and insula , 1997, Neuroreport.

[26]  J. Marshall,et al.  Hemispheric asymmetries in global⧹local processing are modulated by perceptual salience , 1998, Neuropsychologia.

[27]  Fabrizio Doricchi,et al.  Seeing only the right half of the forest but cutting down all the trees? , 1998, Nature.

[28]  K. Heilman,et al.  Neglect after right hemisphere stroke , 1998, Neurology.

[29]  T Landis,et al.  Near and far visual space in unilateral neglect , 1998, Annals of neurology.

[30]  Fred H. Previc,et al.  The Neuropsychology of 3-D Space , 1998 .

[31]  T. Bachmann,et al.  Cognitive contributions to the perception of spatial and temporal events (Advances in Psychology, Vol. 129) , 1999 .

[32]  T J Sejnowski,et al.  Frames of reference in hemineglect: a computational approach. , 1999, Progress in brain research.

[33]  M. Goldberg,et al.  Space and attention in parietal cortex. , 1999, Annual review of neuroscience.

[34]  Bruce Bridgeman,et al.  Chapter 1 Separate representations of visual space for perception and visually guided behavior , 1999 .

[35]  A. Berti,et al.  When Far Becomes Near: Remapping of Space by Tool Use , 2000, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[36]  K. Zilles,et al.  Neural consequences of acting in near versus far space: a physiological basis for clinical dissociations. , 2000, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[37]  A Farnè,et al.  Dynamic size‐change of hand peripersonal space following tool use , 2000, Neuroreport.

[38]  Gereon R Fink,et al.  ‘Where’ depends on ‘what’: A differential functional anatomy for position discrimination in one- versus two-dimensions , 2000, Neuropsychologia.

[39]  G. Fink,et al.  Neural consequences of competing stimuli in both visual hemifields: A physiological basis for visual extinction , 2000, Annals of neurology.