Saj Arnaud, Borel Liliane, Honoré Jacques
Neuropsychology Unit, Neurology Department, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Neurology and Cognitive Imaging Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Front Neurol. 2019 Feb 25;10:142. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2019.00142. eCollection 2019.
Vertical representation is central to posture control, as well as to spatial perception and navigation. This representation has been studied for a long time in patients with vestibular disorders and more recently in patients with hemispheric damage, in particular in those with right lesions causing spatial or postural deficits. The aim of the study was to determine the brain areas involved in the visual perception of the vertical. Sixteen right-handed healthy participants were evaluated using fMRI while they were judging the verticality of lines or, in a control task, the color of the same lines. The brain bases of the vertical perception proved to involve a bilateral temporo-occipital and parieto-occipital cortical network, with a right dominance tendency, associated with cerebellar and brainstem areas. Consistent with the outcomes of neuroanatomical studies in stroke patients, The data of this original fMRI study in healthy subjects provides new insights into brain networks associated with vertical perception which is typically impaired in both vestibular and spatial neglect patients. Interestingly, these networks include not only brain areas associated with postural control but also areas implied in body representation.
垂直表征对于姿势控制、空间感知和导航至关重要。长期以来，人们一直在研究前庭障碍患者的这种表征，最近也在研究半球损伤患者的这种表征，特别是那些右侧病变导致空间或姿势缺陷的患者。本研究的目的是确定参与垂直视觉感知的脑区。16名右利手健康参与者在使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）进行评估时，他们要么判断线条的垂直度，要么在对照任务中判断相同线条的颜色。垂直感知的脑基础被证明涉及双侧颞枕叶和顶枕叶皮质网络，具有右侧优势倾向，并与小脑和脑干区域相关。与中风患者的神经解剖学研究结果一致，这项针对健康受试者的原始fMRI研究数据为与垂直感知相关的脑网络提供了新的见解，垂直感知在前庭和空间忽视患者中通常会受损。有趣的是，这些网络不仅包括与姿势控制相关的脑区，还包括与身体表征相关的区域。
