Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (21)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mellet, E.
Right arrow Articles by Tzourio-Mazoyer, N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Mellet, E.
Right arrow Articles by Tzourio-Mazoyer, N.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Cerebral Cortex, Vol. 12, No. 12, 1322-1330, December 2002
© 2002 Oxford University Press

Neural Basis of Mental Scanning of a Topographic Representation Built from a Text

E. Mellet, S. Bricogne, F. Crivello, B. Mazoyer, M. Denis1 and N. Tzourio-Mazoyer

CNRS UMR 6995, Université de Caen and Université Paris V, BP 5227, 14074 Caen Cedex and , 1 Groupe Cognition Humaine, LIMSI-CNRS, BP 133, 91403 Orsay Cedex, France

Emmanuel Mellet, Groupe d’Imagerie Neurofonctionnelle, GIP Cyceron, Bd H. Becquerel, BP 5229, 14074 Caen Cedex, France. Email: mellet{at}cyceron.fr.

Humans have the ability to build and to inspect an internal visual image of an environment built from a verbal description. We used positron emission tomography (PET) to investigate the brain areas engaged in the mental scanning of a map that subjects built from the reading of a descriptive text. This task engaged a parieto-frontal network known to deal with spatial representations. Additional activations were evidenced in the angular gyrus and in Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas. In order to examine the neural impact of the learning modality, these PET results were compared to those obtained in another group of six subjects who performed a similar mental scanning task on a topographic representation built from visual inspection of a map. Both scanning tasks engaged the parieto-frontal network. However, the bilateral activation of the angular gyrus as well as the involvement of language areas appeared specific to the mental scanning of the topographic representation built from textual information. On the other hand, the right medial temporal lobe was activated only when a map had been visually learned. These results suggest that although both tasks involved visuo-spatial internal representation, a trace of the learning modality remained present in the brain.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 BrainHome page
R. K. Kana, T. A. Keller, V. L. Cherkassky, N. J. Minshew, and M. A. Just
Sentence comprehension in autism: thinking in pictures with decreased functional connectivity
Brain, September 1, 2006; 129(9): 2484 - 2493.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
R. J. Blanch, D. Brennan, B. Condon, C. Santosh, and D. Hadley
Are There Gender-specific Neural Substrates of Route Learning from Different Perspectives?
Cereb Cortex, November 1, 2004; 14(11): 1207 - 1213.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 BrainHome page
U. P. Mosimann, J. Felblinger, P. Ballinari, C. W. Hess, and R. M. Muri
Visual exploration behaviour during clock reading in Alzheimer's disease
Brain, February 1, 2004; 127(2): 431 - 438.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.