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Updated: Jan 21, 2026

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Published on: October 2, 2019
Role of the left hemisphere in visuospatial working memory
Selvi R Paulraj1,2, Krista Schendel1, Brian Curran1
1VA Northern California Health Care System, 150 Muir Road, Martinez, CA, 94553, USA.
Left hemisphere damage can impair spatial working memory, challenging the notion that only the right hemisphere handles such tasks. Specific left hemisphere regions are critical for backward spatial span performance.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neurology
Background:
- Visuospatial processing deficits are commonly linked to right hemisphere damage.
- However, spatial working memory impairments have been observed in individuals with left hemisphere damage (LHD).
- This suggests a potential role for the left hemisphere in non-verbal spatial memory, possibly through verbal strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if individuals with LHD exhibit deficits in spatial working memory (forward and backward spatial span).
- To investigate the influence of language (aphasia) on spatial working memory in LHD.
- To identify specific left hemisphere brain regions involved in spatial working memory using voxel-based lesion symptom mapping (VLSM).
Main Methods:
- Assessed spatial span performance (forward and backward) in a large cohort of individuals with LHD.
- Compared spatial span performance between LHD individuals with and without aphasia.
- Correlated spatial span performance with various language measures.
- Utilized voxel-based lesion symptom mapping (VLSM) to map lesion locations to spatial span deficits.
Main Results:
- A significant percentage of individuals with LHD (28% forward, 16% backward) performed in the clinically impaired range on spatial span tasks.
- No significant differences in spatial span performance were found between LHD individuals with and without aphasia.
- No correlations were observed between spatial span performance and language measures.
- VLSM identified a left fronto-parietal network (somatosensory cortex, supramarginal gyrus, lateral prefrontal cortex, frontal eye fields) associated with backward spatial span.
Conclusions:
- Spatial working memory, particularly backward span, can be impaired in a subset of individuals with LHD.
- The findings implicate a left hemisphere fronto-parietal network in spatial working memory, potentially related to domain-general working memory and attentional control.
- Language deficits (aphasia) do not appear to be the primary driver of spatial working memory impairments in this LHD group.
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