The posterior parietal cortex integrates visual and somatosensory information to guide motor responses. It plays a role in attention during perception and memory retrieval. The posterior parietal cortex transforms sensory input into motor output and is crucial for attention during perception and mental representation of location. While less is known about the human posterior parietal cortex compared to monkeys, neuroimaging studies have begun to elucidate its functional distinctions and role in attention and memory.
2. Role
• “The parietal lobe forms about 20% of the human cerebral
cortex and is divided into two major regions, the
somatosensory cortex and the posterior parietal cortex.”(2)
• “A primary function of posterior parietal cortex is the
integration of visuospatial and somatosensory information to
shape an appropriate motor response.” (1)
• “…attention is one of the cognitive functions that is
traditionally associated with posterior parietal regions…”(3)
• The posterior parietal cortex has long been known to be
crucial for attention during perception and mental
representation of location, but it was rarely, if ever, implicated
in memory retrieval. <…> The advent of functional
neuroimaging, however, showed clearly that the posterior
parietal cortex is often activated during memory retrieval.(3)
4. Limitations or what’s next
• Surface area of this region is 20 times larger in humans than in
macaque monkeys.(2)
• Although much less is known about human parietal cortex
than homologous monkey cortex, recent studies, employing
neuroimaging and neuropsychological methods, have begun
to elucidate increasingly fine-grained functional and structural
distinctions. (2)
• Functional imaging work has become increasingly
sophisticated over the past few years and the full power of
this method is yet to be realized in the exploration of human
parietal cortex.(2)
