THE ASSOCIATIVE PARIETAL CORTEX: AN INTERFACE BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL WORLD AND REPRESENTATIONS?

It is unquestionable that the hippocampus plays a key role in spatial processing. Examples of actual spatial performance that are spared by hippocampal lesions are rare. The deficits are usually pronounced and unrecoverable. Moreover, data from electrophysiological studies add further support for a spatial function for the hippocampus. Does that mean that the hippocampal formation is the unique site in the brain where spatial processing is achieved? The question can be formulated in another way: are there aspects of spatial processing that are not ensured by the hippocampus but that are necessary in order that the whole process can take place, from the very first beginnings of exploration up to the point where orientation is based on coherent, effective representations? It appears difficult to maintain that a single structure, what is more, a paleocortical structure, acts alone at all the various stages of the complex spatial process. It is common sense to assume otherwise.