The associative parietal cortex and spatial processing in rodents.
It is widely acknowledged that the hippocampal formation has a central function in rodents' spatial memory and navigation. However, recent work has shown that other structures participate in specific spatial processing. That is so for the associative parietal cortex (APC). Although this neocortical region is far less developed in rodents than in humans and non-human primates, APC damage in rodents induces deficits which affect both egocentrically and allocentrically organized spatial behaviours. On the basis of behavioural (following parietal lesions) and neuroanatomical data, we propose that the APC could be at the interface between the level of perception of the physical world (egocentrically organized) and that of representations or maps (allocentrically organized) of this world. Reciprocally, the APC could also be involved in the transformation, in the opposite direction, of computations made on the basis of representations into motor actions necessary for the efficient execution of oriented behaviours within the physical world.
Centre de recherche en neurosciences cognitives, CNRS, Marseille, France. thinus@lnf.cnrs-mrs.fr
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D000818:Animals; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D012377:Rodentia / Q000502:physiology*; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000502:physiology*