Brain system for mental orientation in space, time, and person
Abstract
Processing of spatial, temporal, and social relations relies on mental cognitive maps, on which the behaving self is oriented relative to different places, events, and people. Using high-resolution functional MRI scanning in individual subjects, we show that mental orientation in space, time, and person produces a sequential posterior-anterior pattern of activity in each participant's brain. These activations are adjacent and partially overlapping, highlighting the relation between mental orientation in these domains. Furthermore, the activity is highly overlapping with the brain's default-mode network, a system involved in self-referential processing. These findings may shed new light on fundamental cognitive processing of space, time, and person and alter our understanding of disorientation phenomena in neuropsychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
- Publication:
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- September 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1504242112
- Bibcode:
- 2015PNAS..11211072P