A remarkable facilitating effect of parietal damage.
When distracters conflict with our instructions, our reactions normally get slower. However, Coulthard and colleagues in this issue of Neuron show that damage to the right parietal lobe reverses this effect, paradoxically facilitating responses. This surprising result may shed light on the functional role of parietal cortex within a larger cortical circuit for voluntary behavior.
Cisek
Paul
P
Départment de Physiologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada. paul.cisek@umontreal.ca
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology