Perception of Extrapersonal Space: Psychological and Neural Aspects

Abstract

The perception of extrapersonal space includes the processes by which we perceive the locations of objects and remember their positions relative to specific reference frames. These reference frames include egocentric representations, related to specific effectors, and allocentric reference frames that are independent of the observer. The neural mechanisms that underlie spatial perception involve not only sensory cortices but also many areas of parietal and frontal cortex. In this article, certain psychological aspects of spatial perception are reviewed, followed by a consideration of the cortical neural mechanisms involved in the perception of spatial information and the construction of specific reference frames.