The Visuospatial and Sensorimotor Functions of Posterior Parietal Cortex in Drawing Tasks: A Review.

Shuwei Bai,Wenyan Liu,Yangtai Guan

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2021.717002

Abstract

Drawing is a comprehensive skill that primarily involves visuospatial processing, eye-hand coordination, and other higher-order cognitive functions. Various drawing tasks are widely used to assess brain function. The neuropsychological basis of drawing is extremely sophisticated. Previous work has addressed the critical role of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in drawing, but the specific functions of the PPC in drawing remain unclear. Functional magnetic resonance imaging and electrophysiological studies found that drawing activates the PPC. Lesion-symptom mapping studies have shown an association between PPC injury and drawing deficits in patients with global and focal cerebral pathology. These findings depicted a core framework of the fronto-parietal network in drawing tasks. Here, we review neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies applying drawing paradigms and discuss the specific functions of the PPC in visuospatial and sensorimotor aspects. Ultimately, we proposed a hypothetical model based on the dorsal stream. It demonstrates the organization of a PPC-centered network for drawing and provides systematic insights into drawing for future neuropsychological research.

Highlights

Visuospatial and Sensorimotor Functions of Posterior Parietal Cortex in Drawing Tasks: A Review
Evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and EEG studies has shown that posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is activated in different drawing tests, and damage in the PPC is associated with various drawing errors, according to lesion-symptom mapping (LSM) research
These findings suggest that the PPC contributes to both visuospatial and sensorimotor processing in drawing

Summary

Hemisphere Methods

Toba (Toba et al, 2018) Tranel (Tranel et al, 2008) Biesbroek (Biesbroek et al, 2014) Russell (Russell et al, 2010) Kenzie (Kenzie et al, 2015) Carson (Carson et al, 2019). SMG, STG (both ROCFC and JLO); right IPL, SPL, AG, MOG (ROCFC only). SMG lesions lead to spatial remapping dysfunction deficits and cause errors in the shaping and orientation of the pentagons during the pentagons copying task (Van der Stigchel et al, 2018). The PPC coordinates the eyes and hands to modulate reaching movement (Jackson and Husain, 2006; Huette et al, 2013). The PPC directs hand placement, adjusts velocity, and amends bias along the trajectory to the targeted loci (Buneo and Andersen, 2006; Jackson and Husain, 2006; Averbeck et al, 2009; Archambault et al, 2011; Battaglia-Mayer et al, 2015). Caudate nuclei, and putamen, interrupts the connection between the PPC and the motor cortex, resulting in poor visuospatial construction (Chechlacz et al, 2014; Chen et al, 2016)

A HYPOTHETICAL PPC-CENTERED NEURAL CIRCUITRY FOR DRAWING

Findings

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES