title: Does the brain prefer geometrical homogeneity?
abstract: Some patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) have shown the development of painting or musical abilities after the onset of the disease. In this report, we present another emergent ability. A female patient with FTLD showing dense atrophy of the bilateral anterior lobes and a loss of voluntary activity in aspects of daily living, presented with the characteristic behaviours when given a paper and a pair of scissors. When a shape was already drawn on the paper, she showed reasonable skills with the scissors, cutting without any hesitation. When she cut a blank piece of paper, she showed quite unique geometrical preferences. Her severely degenerated brain combined with her geometrical abilities suggests that the human brain is naturally affected by geometrical homogeneity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Chuo University Faculty of Letters, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan. green@tamacc.chuou.ac.jp
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Midorikawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawamura
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D001284:Atrophy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D057174:Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon