Abstract
The right posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is implicated in visuo-spatial processing, as illustrated by patients with visuo-spatial neglect, but the precise time-course of its contribution is still an open question. In the present study we assessed whether single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can interfere with the performance of normal subjects in a standard visuo-spatial task. Participants had to perform a landmark task while TMS was applied over the right PPC, the homologue region in the left hemisphere or the right primary motor cortex. Stimulation was time-locked to the stimulus presentation with a stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) varying between 50 and 200 ms. Our results indicate that TMS interfered mainly with the visuo-spatial task when applied over the right PPC at an early stage (50 ms post-stimulus). The interference effect of single-pulse TMS in the present visuo-spatial processing is revealed by a processing cost for ipsilateral targets. These results are in agreement with neuropsychological and brain imaging studies showing a right hemispheric dominance in visuo-spatial processing but add crucial information about the time-course of visuo-spatial processing within the right PPC.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2369-2374 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | NeuroReport |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 8 Aug 2001 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- BA7
- Hemispheric dominance
- Posterior parietal cortex
- Single pulse TMS
- TMS-MRI co-registration
- Visuo-spatial