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Apraxia and the parietal lobes.
1Department of Neuropsychology, Bogenhausen Hospital, Munich, Germany. Georg.Goldenberg@extern.lrz-muenchen.de
Neuropsychologia
|August 12, 2008
Summary
Left parietal lobe damage impacts apraxia differently than expected. Instead of tool use pantomime, meaningless gesture imitation and object use are most affected, suggesting a role in spatial relationship apprehension.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neurology
Background:
- The traditional view posits left parietal lesions are central to apraxia, linked to action planning via a posterior-to-anterior stream.
- Modern models suggest parietal lobes hold mental representations crucial for guiding motor execution, predicting deficits in tool-use pantomime.
Observation:
- A review of clinical studies challenges the link between parietal lesions and tool-use pantomime, showing inconsistent or absent effects.
- Left parietal damage predominantly affects imitation of meaningless gestures and, with broader damage, the actual use of tools and objects.
Findings:
- The study hypothesizes that left parietal lobe integrity is essential for categorical apprehension of spatial relationships.
- This apprehension is critical for both imitating meaningless gestures (via body-part coding) and using tools/objects (understanding hand-tool-object interactions).
Implications:
- This challenges established apraxia models and reframes the parietal lobe's role in action execution.
- The findings align with broader theories on parietal lobe function and hemispheric specialization in spatial processing.
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