fMRI Adaptation Reveals a Cortical Mechanism for the Coding of Space Near the Hand

Behavioral studies in humans and electrophysiological recordings in nonhuman primates have suggested the existence of a specific representation of the space immediately surrounding the body. In macaques, neurons that have visual receptive fields limited to a region of space close around a body part have been found in premotor and parietal areas. These cells are hypothesized to encode the location of external objects in coordinate systems that...