Primate Posterior Parietal Cortex: Organization, Functions, and Pathology

An introduction to the main principles of organization of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC). We will compare monkey and human PPCs, covering topics including encoding of eye movements, number and visual motion representations, processing of object information, and attentional functions. We will emphasize the pathology resulting from damage to PPC by discussing syndromes like optic ataxia and hemispatial neglect. We will present a 'hands on' science experience by drawing on current lab research, focusing on the design and analyses of 'real' experiments on the PPC with opportunities to attend ongoing functional imaging studies.