CONTRIBUTIONS OF POSTERIOR PARIETAL CORTEX TO COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS IN PRIMATES

The posterior parietal cortex plays an important role in a variety of cognitive functions in the primate brain. Parietal lesions result in p rofound defects in the perception and memory of spatial relationships, in the guidance of reaching motions and of the grasping of nearby obj ects, and in the control of eye movements to visual targets. The abili ty to direct attention to visual stimuli is also severely impaired aft er parietal damage. Anatomical and physiological studies in the monkey cortex have identified subdivisions with specialized properties and n eural circuits that are capable of linking visual information to areas involved in motor control. Neurophysiological experiments with animal behavior are now uncovering the neuronal mechanisms that transform in formation from visual to motor coordinates, and providing important in sight into the mechanisms that direct attention to salient stimuli.