Class 18 Parietal lobes

What is the general organization of connections, and what are the functions of superior posterior parietal lobe areas?

Dorsal stream organization of connections. Integration of input from vision and other body senses.

What are the spatial functions of the posterior parietal lobe?

Egocentric space, such as object location for action, guidance of movement and spatial navigation.

What areas of the parietal cortex are involved in attention?

Lateral and posterior parietal cortex.

What are the two areas that comprise the inferior parietal lobe?

The Anterior Zone and the Superior Parietal lobule.

Where in the thalamus does information from proprioception and hapsis go? What did we see in class about the thalamic relays for vestibular information?

The Ventral posterolateral nucleus & the ventral posteromedial nucleus. The thalamus plays a crucial role in integrating vestibular information.

What is somatosensory mapping? How is the homunculus (generally) represented on the somatosensory cortex?

The approximate representation of sensory and motor information in the cortex. Homunculus represented by receptive field and receptor density.

What are the two different subparts of the vestibular system? What in general do the parts of the the vestibular system respond to?

The otoliths and semicircular canals. When the head moves.

What are the precentral and postcentral gyrus? Which one is in the parietal lobe? What function does it have?

The precentral gyrus is the primary motor cortex and the postcentral gyrus is the primary somatosensory cortex. The latter one is in the parietal lobe. It is responsible for processing sensation from the surface of the skin as well as from changes within the body.

In what sense are there multiple representations of the body on the somatosensory cortex ?

There are differences within the cortex based on cell types/structures, so more than one interpretation is possible.

What are the other functions of the posterior parietal lobe (listed as "vaguely spatial")

Vaguely spatial functions including arithmetic, reading language, and tasks requiring sequencing.

Which cranial nerve deals with the information from the vestibular system? To what purposes in general is the information from the vestibular system used?

Vestibulococchlear (VIII). Moves eyes to adjust for movement.