Spatial cognition: Where we were and where we are

Some highlights of the ongoing study of visuospatial cognition from Descart es to the advent of functional neuroimaging are reviewed. We emphasize that parietal cortex contains multiple representations of space, appropriate to the demands of perception and action in near and far space. Converging evi dence from the behavioral effects of relatively focal brain lesions on diff erent aspects of spatial cognition and from the locus of maximal physiologi cal activation when normal volunteers perform spatial tasks is described. C linical pathologies of spatial attention, including visual extinction, simu ltanagnosia, and unilateral neglect, are examined for the light they cast o n the basic functions of brain circuits involving the parietal lobes. (C) 2 001 Academic Press.