Spatio-cognitive deficits in right parietal lesion and its impact on wayfinding: A case study

A right-handed patient with a right parietal lesion has been investigated i n order to understand the impact of the lesion on spatial cognition and to understand the impact of spatio-cognitive deficits at the micro- and macro- scale on spatial orientation and way finding, Wayfinding abilities, in term s of decision making and information processing, were measured by the patie nt having to reach a destination in a complex hospital setting. The results showed that wayfinding was not affected by the lesion; no deficiencies wer e apparent in decision making and developing a plan of action nor were ther e any observable information treatment difficulties. The patient was also a ble to learn routes. He could choose the right route configuration at first sight, but could not distinguish the faulty drawing when he tried to reaso n his choice. The patient completed the pointing task without difficulties, but showed a significant impairment in all operations of a micro-spatial n ature, in particular tasks requiring a mental rotation. The observation tha t the right parietal lesion had a marked impact on basic micro-spatial abil ities, but no impact on the micro-scale, suggests a dissociation between th ese two spatio-cognitive functions, According to our data, wayfinding abili ties do not seem to be affected by deficiencies at the micro-spatial level.