Separate visual pathways for perception of actions and objects: evidence from a case of apperceptive agnosia
- aLaboratoire de Neurophysiologie et Neuropsychologie, Upres EA 2200 CJF Inserm 9706, Faculté de Médecine de Marseille, Université de la Méditerranée, France, bDepartment of Neurology, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
- Dr Carla Teixeira Ferreira, Rua Bartolomeu Portela, 50/505, Botafogo CEP: 22.290.190, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Fax 55.21.542.5071
- Received 20 March 1997
- Revised 5 February 1998
- Accepted 16 February 1998
Abstract
Recognition of different kinds of visual stimuli was studied in a patient who acquired apperceptive visual agnosia after a bilateral occipitotemporal lesion which partially spared the primary visual cortex. Impairment in recognising static objects perceived visually sharply contrasts with the relatively well preserved ability to recognise objects from gestures illustrating their use, and to recognise actions shown in line drawings. It is suggested that the occipitoparieto-frontal pathway is involved in the recognition of actions, and in the recognition of objects when sensorimotor experience is evoked.
