http://mindhacks.com/2008/12/22/out-of-sight-but-not-out-of-mind/ Neuroscience and psychology news and views. Wed, 19 Jun 2013 06:47:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://mindhacks.com/2008/12/22/out-of-sight-but-not-out-of-mind/#comment-6201 Fri, 26 Dec 2008 03:45:55 +0000 http://mindhacksblog.wordpress.com/2008/12/22/out-of-sight-but-not-out-of-mind/#comment-6201 In some aspects, a case such as this isn’t unusual. A portion of the neural projections from the lateral geniculate do not go to visual cortex, rather they follow the tectum-pulvinar route to the cerebellum, where their input is used to guide motor behavior. Clearly, the patient here is relying on that pathway to perform navigational tasks. There are other visual inputs to the limbic system, which would explain the ability to recognize emotions. If I remember correctly these go to both the amygdala and the hippocampus. What makes this patient unusual is the extent of the damage to visual cortex. The scans above don’t indicate the elevation they’re at, but I’d suspect it must be lower down near the level of the corpus callosum. If the damage were higher up in the occipital lobe, and/or going into the parietal lobe, then navigational/spatial reasoning abilities would probably be affected as well. It will be interesting to see how progress on the study of this patient goes.

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