title: Functional anatomy of top-down visuospatial processing in the human brain: evidence from rTMS.
abstract: The hypothesis was tested that visuospatial mental imagery relies on processing in the posterior parietal lobe. Using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in a cross-over, sham-controlled design, we compared involvement of right posterior parietal cortex with primary visual cortex. Subjects received rTMS over the parietal and occipital cortices during 20 min, after which they performed a behaviorally controlled visuospatial mental imagery task. Performance deteriorated significantly after rTMS over the parietal, but not occipital, cortex. These data support a causal link between parietal activation and top-down spatial processing.
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Instituut, Psychological Laboratory, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, Utrecht, The Netherlands. a.aleman@fss.uu.nl
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aleman
authors.forename: Dennis J L G
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Schutter
authors.forename: Nick F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Ramsey
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Honk
authors.forename: Roy P C
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Kessels
authors.forename: Johannes M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hoogduin
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Postma
authors.forename: René S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Kahn
authors.forename: Edward H F
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: de Haan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D008280:Magnetics; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology