A neurological dissociation between perceiving objects and grasping them (original) (raw)

Nature volume 349, pages 154–156 (1991)Cite this article

Abstract

STUDIES of the visual capacity of neurological patients have provided evidence for a dissociation between the perceptual report of a visual stimulus and the ability to direct spatially accurate movements toward that stimulus. Some patients with damage to the parietal lobe, for example, are unable to reach accurately towards visual targets that they unequivocally report seeing1,2. Conversely, some patients with extensive damage to primary visual cortex can make accurate pointing movements or saccades toward a stimulus presented in their "blind' scotoma3–5. But in investigations of visuomotor control in patients with visual disorders, little consideration has been given to complex acts such as manual prehension. Grasping a three-dimensional object requires knowledge not only of the object's spatial location, but also of its form, orientation and size. We have examined a patient with a profound disorder in the perception of such object qualities. Our quantitative analyses demonstrate strikingly accurate guidance of hand and finger movements directed at the very objects whose qualities she fails to perceive. These data suggest that the neural substrates for the visual perception of object qualities such as shape, orientation and size are distinct from those underlying the use of those qualities in the control of manual skills.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 51 print issues and online access

$199.00 per year

only $3.90 per issue

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Additional access options:

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Damasio, A. R. & Benton, A. L. Neurology 29, 170–178 (1979).
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  2. Perenin, M.-T. & Vighetto, A. Brain 111, 643–674 (1988).
    Article Google Scholar
  3. Perenin, M.-T. & Jeannerod, M. Neuropsychologia 4, 1–7 (1975).
    Article Google Scholar
  4. Weiskrantz, L., Warrington, E. K., Sanders, M. D. & Marshall, J. Brain 97, 709–728 (1974).
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  5. Poeppel, E., Held, R. & Frost, D. Nature 243, 295–296 (1973).
    Article ADS Google Scholar
  6. Damasio, H. & Damasio, A. R. Lesion Analysis in Neuropsychology (Oxford University Press, New York, 1989).
    Google Scholar
  7. Milner, A. D. & Heywood, C. A. Cortex 25, 489–494 (1989).
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  8. Milner, A. D. et al. Brain (in the press).
  9. Efron, R. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science 4, 137–173 (1969).
    Article Google Scholar
  10. Jeannerod, M. In Attention and Performance IX (eds J. Long & A. Baddeley) 153–168 (Erlbaum, Hillsdale, New Jersey, 1981).
    Google Scholar
  11. Ungerleider, L. G. & Mishkin, M. In Analysis of Visual Behavior (eds D. J. Ingle, M. A. Goodale & R. J. W. Mansfield) 549–580 (MIT, Cambridge, 1982).
    Google Scholar
  12. Maunsell, J. H. R. & Newsome, W. T. A. Rev. Neurosci. 10, 363–401 (1987).
    Article CAS Google Scholar

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada, N6A 5C2
    M. A. Goodale, L. S. Jakobson & D. P. Carey
  2. Psychological Laboratory, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9JU, UK
    A. D. Milner

Authors

  1. M. A. Goodale
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  2. A. D. Milner
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  3. L. S. Jakobson
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  4. D. P. Carey
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Goodale, M., Milner, A., Jakobson, L. et al. A neurological dissociation between perceiving objects and grasping them.Nature 349, 154–156 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/349154a0

Download citation

This article is cited by