title: The functional neuroanatomy of object agnosia: a case study.
abstract: Cortical reorganization of visual and object representations following neural injury was examined using fMRI and behavioral investigations. We probed the visual responsivity of the ventral visual cortex of an agnosic patient who was impaired at object recognition following a lesion to the right lateral fusiform gyrus. In both hemispheres, retinotopic mapping revealed typical topographic organization and visual activation of early visual cortex. However, visual responses, object-related, and -selective responses were reduced in regions immediately surrounding the lesion in the right hemisphere, and also, surprisingly, in corresponding locations in the structurally intact left hemisphere. In contrast, hV4 of the right hemisphere showed expanded response properties. These findings indicate that the right lateral fusiform gyrus is critically involved in object recognition and that an impairment to this region has widespread consequences for remote parts of cortex. Finally, functional neural plasticity is possible even when a cortical lesion is sustained in adulthood.
authors: Department of Psychology and Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA. ckonen@princeton.edu
authors: Christina S
authors: CS
authors: Konen
authors: Marlene
authors: M
authors: Behrmann
authors: Mayu
authors: M
authors: Nishimura
authors: Sabine
authors: S
authors: Kastner
mesh_terms: D000377:Agnosia / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology