Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Spatial awareness is a function of the temporal not the posterior parietal lobe

Abstract

Our current understanding of spatial behaviour and parietal lobe function is largely based on the belief that spatial neglect in humans (a lack of awareness of space on the side of the body contralateral to a brain injury) is typically associated with lesions of the posterior parietal lobe. However, in monkeys, this disorder is observed after lesions of the superior temporal cortex1, a puzzling discrepancy between the species. Here we show that, contrary to the widely accepted view, the superior temporal cortex is the neural substrate of spatial neglect in humans, as it is in monkeys. Unlike the monkey brain, spatial awareness in humans is a function largely confined to the right superior temporal cortex, a location topographically reminiscent of that for language on the left2. Hence, the decisive phylogenetic transition from monkey to human brain seems to be a restriction of a formerly bilateral function to the right side, rather than a shift from the temporal to the parietal lobe. One may speculate that this lateralization of spatial awareness parallels the emergence of an elaborate representation for language on the left side.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Lesion analysis of patients without (controls) and with spatial neglect.
Figure 2: Lesion analysis of patients with visual-field defects (VFDs), without (RBD) and with spatial neglect.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Watson, R. T., Valenstein, E., Day, A. & Heilman, K. M. Posterior neocortical systems subserving awareness and neglect. Arch. Neurol. 51, 1014–1021 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Binder, J. The new neuroanatomy of speech perception. Brain 123, 2371–2372 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Vallar, G. & Perani, D. The anatomy of unilateral neglect after right-hemisphere stroke lesions. A clinical/CT-scan correlation study in man. Neuropsychologia 24, 609–622 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Heilman, K. M., Watson, R. T., Valenstein, E. & Damasio, A. R. in Localization in Neuropsychology (ed. Kertesz, A.) 471–492 (Academic, New York, 1983).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Samuelsson, H., Jensen, C., Ekholm, S., Naver, H. & Blomstrand, C. Anatomical and neurological correlates of acute and chronic visuospatial neglect following right hemisphere stroke. Cortex 33, 271–285 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Perenin, M. T. in Parietal Lobe Contributions to Orientation in 3D Space (eds Thier, P. & Karnath, H.-O.) 289–308 (Springer, Heidelberg, 1997).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  7. Leibovitch, F. S. et al. Brain–behavior correlations in hemispatial neglect using CT and SPECT: the Sunnybrook Stroke Study. Neurology 50, 901–908 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Leibovitch, F. S. et al. Brain SPECT imaging and left hemispatial neglect covaried using partial least squares: the Sunnybrook Stroke Study. Hum. Brain Mapp. 7, 244–253 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Ettlinger, G. & Kalsbeck, J. E. Changes in tactile discrimination and in visual reaching after successive and simultaneous bilateral posterior parietal ablations in the monkey. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 25, 256–268 (1962).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Lamotte, R. H. & Acuna, C. Deficits in accuracy of reaching after removal of posterior parietal cortex in monkeys. Brain Res. 139, 309–326 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Faugier-Grimaud, S., Frenois, C. & Stein, D. G. Effects of posterior parietal lesions on visually guided behavior in monkeys. Neuropsychologia 16, 151–168 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Lynch, J. C. & McLaren, J. W. Deficits of visual attention and saccadic eye movments after lesions of parietooccipital cortex in monkeys. J. Neurophysiol. 61, 74–90 (1989).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Gaffan, D. & Hornak, J. Visual neglect in the monkey. Representation and disconnection. Brain 120, 1647–1657 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Damasio, A. R., Damasio, H. & Chui, H. C. Neglect following damage to frontal lobe or basal ganglia. Neuropsychologia 18, 123–132 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Motomura, N. et al. Unilateral spatial neglect due to hemorrhage in the thalamic region. Acta Neurol. Scand. 74, 190–194 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Talairach, J. & Tournoux, P. Co-planar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain: 3-Dimensional Proportional System—an Approach to Cerebral Imaging. (Thieme, New York, 1988).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Rorden, C. & Brett, M. Stereotaxic display of brain lesions. Behav. Neurol. (in the press).

  18. Ungerleider, L. G. & Mishkin, M. in Analysis of Visual Behavior (eds Ingle, D. J., Goodale, M. A. & Mansfield, R. J. W.) 549–586 (MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Jones, E. G. & Powell, T. P. S. An anatomical study of converging sensory pathways within the cerebral cortex of the monkey. Brain 93, 793–820 (1970).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Seltzer, B. & Pandya, D. N. Afferent cortical connections and architectonics of the superior temporal sulcus and surrounding cortex in the rhesus monkey. Brain Res. 149, 1–24 (1978).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Bruce, C., Desimone, R. & Gross, C. G. Visual properties of neurons in a polysensory area in superior temporal sulcus of the macaque. J. Neurophysiol. 46, 369–384 (1981).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Felleman, D. J. & Van Essen, D. C. Distributed hierarchical processing in the primate cerebral cortex. Cereb. Cortex 1, 1–47 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Luh, K. E., Butter, C. M. & Buchtel, H. A. Impairments in orienting to visual stimuli in monkeys following unilateral lesions of the superior sulcal polysensory cortex. Neuropsychologia 24, 461–470 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Mesulam, M.-M. Spatial attention and neglect: parietal, frontal and cingulate contributions to the mental representation and attentional targeting of salient extrapersonal events. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 354, 1325–1346 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Darling, W. G., Rizzo, M. & Butler, A. J. Disordered sensorimotor transformations for reaching following posterior cortical lesions. Neuropsychologia 39, 237–254 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Weintraub, S. & Mesulam, M.-M. in Principles of Behavioral Neurology (ed. Mesulam, M.-M.) 71–123 (Davis, Philadelphia, 1985).

    Google Scholar 

  27. Gauthier, L., Dehaut, F. & Joanette, Y. The bells test: a quantitative and qualitative test for visual neglect. Int. J. Clin. Neuropsychol. 11, 49–54 (1989).

    Google Scholar 

  28. Tham, K. & Tegnér, R. The baking tray task: a test of spatial neglect. Neuropsychol. Rehab. 6, 19–25 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie awarded to H.-O.K. We thank M. Niemeier, L. Johannsen and U. Zimmer for support with the neuropsychological testing of the patients; P. Thier for discussion and suggestions for the manuscript; U. Amann for help in the tomography archives; and C. Rorden for developing the MRIcro software.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hans-Otto Karnath.

Supplementary Information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Karnath, HO., Ferber, S. & Himmelbach, M. Spatial awareness is a function of the temporal not the posterior parietal lobe. Nature 411, 950–953 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35082075

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35082075

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing