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Direct Evidence for a Parietal-Frontal Pathway Subserving Spatial Awareness in Humans
Michel Thiebaut de Schotten,1Marika Urbanski,1Hugues Duffau,2Emmanuelle Volle,1,3Richard Lévy,1,4Bruno Dubois,1,4Paolo Bartolomeo1,4*
Intraoperative electrical stimulation, which temporarily inactivatesrestricted regions during brain surgery, can map cognitive functionsin humans with spatiotemporal resolution unmatched by othermethods. Using this technique, we found that stimulation ofthe right inferior parietal lobule or the caudal superior temporalgyrus, but not of its rostral portion, determined rightwarddeviations on line bisection. However, the strongest shiftsoccurred with subcortical stimulation. Fiber tracking identifiedthe stimulated site as a section of the superior occipitofrontalfasciculus, a poorly known parietal-frontal pathway. These findingssuggest that parietal-frontal communication is necessary forthe symmetrical processing of the visual scene.
1 INSERM Unit 610, Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France. 2 Department of Neurosurgery, Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France. 3 Department of Neuroimagery, Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France. 4 Department of Neurology, Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: paolo.bartolomeo{at}chups.jussieu.fr
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