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Deficits in spatial coding and feature binding following damage to spatiotopic maps in the human pulvinar

Nature Neuroscience volume 5, pages 99–100 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

We report a patient with unilateral damage to the rostral part of the pulvinar who was impaired in localizing stimuli in the inferior visual field contralateral to the lesion and who made errors in the binding of shape and color in that quadrant. The findings demonstrate the importance of the pulvinar in spatial coding and provide support for the function of the thalamus in binding of features1. They also provide evidence for a homology between the visual field maps of the inferior and lateral subdivisions of the pulvinar in monkeys and in humans, such that the inferior visual field is represented in the rostral part of the nucleus.

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Figure 1: Reconstructed T1-weighted magnetic resonance images from patient T.N., showing a lesion involving the posterior-lateral thalamus and the most anterior and dorsal part of the pulvinar.
Figure 2: Sample stimulus display. The target was either an F or an X; the distractor was always an O.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the Medical Research Council (UK). The research was approved by the Ethics Comittees of the University of Wales, Bangor, the North West Wales NHS Trust and the Conwy–Denbighshire NHS Trust. We thank T.N. for her help in these studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Wales, Bangor, LL57 2AS, UK

    Robert Ward, Shai Danziger, Vanessa Owen & Robert Rafal

  2. Ben Gurion University, PO Box 653, Beer Sheva, Israel

    Shai Danziger

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  1. Robert Ward
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  2. Shai Danziger
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  4. Robert Rafal
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Correspondence to Robert Ward.

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Ward, R., Danziger, S., Owen, V. et al. Deficits in spatial coding and feature binding following damage to spatiotopic maps in the human pulvinar. Nat Neurosci 5, 99–100 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn794

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