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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 12, 2026

Mapping Cortical Dynamics Using Simultaneous MEG/EEG and Anatomically-constrained Minimum-norm Estimates: an Auditory Attention Example

Mapping Cortical Dynamics Using Simultaneous MEG/EEG and Anatomically-constrained Minimum-norm Estimates: an Auditory Attention Example

Published on: October 24, 2012

Maps of space in human frontoparietal cortex.

Trenton A Jerde¹, Clayton E Curtis

¹Center for Cognitive Sciences, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0366, USA.

Journal of Physiology, Paris

|April 23, 2013

Summary

Human frontoparietal cortex may act as a priority map for spatial cognition. Neural activity in specific areas, like the superior precentral sulcus and intraparietal sulcus, reflects spatial location across different tasks, supporting this theory.

Keywords:

Attention Frontal eye field Lateral intraparietal area Parietal cortex Prefrontal cortex Priority map Topography Working memory

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Last Updated: May 12, 2026

Mapping Cortical Dynamics Using Simultaneous MEG/EEG and Anatomically-constrained Minimum-norm Estimates: an Auditory Attention Example

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Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain

Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain

Published on: October 13, 2023

Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Neuroimaging
Spatial Cognition

Background:

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) are crucial for spatial cognition.
Priority map theory posits that neural activity represents attentional priority for objects or locations.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether human frontoparietal cortex functions as a priority map.
To determine if neural activity in candidate priority maps is agnostic to specific spatial tasks.

Main Methods:

Utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify topographic maps in PFC and PPC.
Measured fMRI activity during covert attention, spatial working memory, and motor planning tasks.
Employed multivariate classifiers to analyze delay period activity patterns.

Main Results:

Identified candidate priority maps in PFC and PPC.
Found that activity patterns in superior precentral sulcus (sPCS) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS2) were interchangeable across different spatial tasks.
Multivariate decoders cross-predicted locations between tasks in sPCS and IPS2.

Conclusions:

sPCS and IPS2 exhibit properties consistent with priority maps.
These areas may serve as human homologs to monkey frontal eye field (FEF) and lateral intraparietal area (LIP).
Frontoparietal cortex plays a role in maintaining spatial information across diverse cognitive demands.