title: Cognitive contributions of the ventral parietal cortex: an integrative theoretical account.
abstract: Although ventral parietal cortex (VPC) activations can be found in a variety of cognitive domains, these activations have been typically attributed to cognitive operations specific to each domain. In this article, we propose a hypothesis that can account for VPC activations across all the cognitive domains reviewed. We first review VPC activations in the domains of perceptual and motor reorienting, episodic memory retrieval, language and number processing, theory of mind, and episodic memory encoding. Then, we consider the localization of VPC activations across domains and conclude that they are largely overlapping with some differences around the edges. Finally, we assess how well four different hypotheses of VPC function can explain findings in various domains and conclude that a bottom-up attention hypothesis provides the most complete and parsimonious account.
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham 27516, USA. cabeza@duke.edu
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cabeza
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ciaramelli
authors.forename: Morris
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moscovitch
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000293:injuries / Q000502:physiology*; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000502:physiology