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# A fronto-parietal system for computing the egocentric spatial frame of reference in humans

## Details

**Authors** Vallar et al.

**Year** 1999

**Publisher** Experimental Brain Research

**Discipline** Neuroscience

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1007/s002210050624) 
10.1007/s002210050624

## In authors' words

### What they set out to do (purpose)

To investigate how the brain creates an “egocentric spatial frame of reference” using an fMRI.

### What they found (results)

Their finding that the formation of an egocentric spatial frame of reference is located in the right hemisphere corresponds with previous research in people with lesions in that same area. In other words, having an injury on that specific part of the brain, will affect one’s ability to create a spatial frame of reference.

## Commentary

### In short

This research is significant to us in particular because it demonstrates a neurological placement for taking perspective, specifically a spatial one.

### In more detail

Vallar et al 1998 investigated how the brain creates an “egocentric spatial frame of reference” using an fMRI. In particular, they observed the mid-sagittal plane, which divides the left and right sides of the brain. In the fMRI machine, the 7 participants were instructed to press a button when a vertical bar that was moving horizontally, passed their “subjective mid-sagittal plane.” Control group participants were instructed to press the button when the bar changed direction, instead of when it crossed the mid-sagittal plane. They observed an increased signal in, “posterior parietal and lateral frontal premotor regions, with a more extensive activation in the right cerebral hemisphere.” Their finding that the formation of an egocentric spatial frame of reference is located in the right hemisphere corresponds with previous research in people with lesions in that same area. “Damage to the right hemisphere, more frequently to the posterior-inferior parietal region, may bring about neglect syndrome of the contralesional, left side of space, including a major rightward displacement of the subjective mid-sagittal plane.” In other words, having an injury on that specific part of the brain, will affect one’s ability to create a spatial frame of

reference. This research is significant to us in particular because it demonstrates a neurological placement for taking perspective, specifically a spatial one.

**Patterns it shows** P

**How to cite this** Vallar et al. (1999). A fronto-parietal system for computing the egocentric spatial frame of reference in humans. Experimental Brain Research.