Coding of far and near space in neglect patients

Far (extrapersonal) and near (peripersonal) spaces are behaviorally defined as the space outside arm-reaching distance and the space within arm-reachi ng distance. Animal and human studies have shown that this behavioral disti nction corresponds in the brain to a composite neural architecture for spac e representation. In this paper we discuss how the activation of the neural correlates of far and near space can be modulated by the use of tools that change the effective spatial relationship between the agent's body and the target object. When subjects reach for a far object with a tool, it is pos sible to show that far space is remapped as near. We shall also argue that space remapping may not occur when far space is reached by walking instead of using a tool. (C) 2001 Academic Press.