Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 331, Issue 1, 4 October 2002, Pages 45-49
Neuroscience Letters

Distinguishing visuospatial working memory and complex mental calculation areas within the parietal lobes

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3940(02)00833-9Get rights and content

Abstract

The present study was aimed at differentiate, within the parietal cortex, the areas underlying visuospatial working memory/attentionnal processes and those devoted to arithmetic processing. We compared, using positron emission tomography, the cerebral networks activated in two groups of subjects, one solving two-by-two digit numbers multiplications and the other performing a visuospatial non-numerical N-Back task. Both tasks were compared to a resting state and a control condition. During both tasks, activation was observed, bilaterally, in superior parietal areas reflecting visuospatial working memory and attentionnal processes shared by both tasks. The calculation task elicited more activation in the left inferior parietal lobule and the left precuneus. These areas could subtend numerical representation, numbers storage and retrieval processes. These results added some strong support for a special role of the left inferior parietal areas in arithmetic processing.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Grant 97-99N35/0017 from ‘GIS Sciences de la Cognition’ (France). L.Z. was supported by grants from Fyssen foundation and Philippe foundation.

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