Abstract
The lateral bank of the anterior intraparietal sulcus (IPS) is critical for object grasping. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (Durand et al., 2007) and single-cell recording studies (Srivastava, Orban, De Maziere, & Janssen, 2009) in macaque monkeys have demonstrated that neurons in the anterior intraparietal area (AIP) are selective for disparity-defined three-dimensional (3D) object shape. Importantly, the use of the same stimuli and tasks in macaque monkeys and humans has enabled us to infer possible homologies between the two species. I will review more recent studies combining fMRI, single-cell recordings, electrical microstimulation and reversible inactivation that have shed light on the functional organization of the IPS. Using an integrated approach (Premereur, Van Dromme, Romero, Vanduffel, & Janssen, 2015), we could identify differences in the effective connectivity between nearby patches of neurons with very similar response properties, resolving a long-standing controversy between anatomical and physiological studies with respect to the spatial extent of neighboring areas AIP and LIP. In addition, the effective connectivity of the different IPS sectors has clarified the functional organization of the anterior IPS. Finally, reversible inactivation during fMRI can demonstrate how visual information flows within the widespread functional network involved in 3D object processing. These results are not only critical to understand the role of the macaque parietal cortex, but will also contribute to a better understanding of the parietal cortex in humans.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2016