Neural components of topographical representation.
Studies of patients with focal brain damage suggest that topographical representation is subserved by dissociable neural subcomponents. This article offers a condensed review of the literature of "topographical disorientation" and describes several functional MRI studies designed to test hypotheses generated by that review. Three hypotheses are considered: (i) The parahippocampal cortex is critically involved in the acquisition of exocentric spatial information in humans; (ii) separable, posterior, dorsal, and ventral cortical regions subserve the perception and long term representation of position and identity, respectively, of landmarks; and (iii) there is a distinct area of the ventral occipitotemporal cortex that responds maximally to building stimuli and may play a role in the perception of salient landmarks. We conclude with a discussion of the inferential limitations of neuroimaging and lesion studies. It is proposed that combining these two approaches allows for inferences regarding the computational involvement of a neuroanatomical substrate in a given cognitive process although neither method can strictly support this conclusion alone.
Aguirre
G K
GK
Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4283, USA.
Zarahn
E
E
D'Esposito
M
M
D000377:Agnosia / Q000503:physiopathology; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016489:Head Injuries, Closed / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology