Processing the spatial configuration of complex actions involves right posterior parietal cortex: An fMRI study with clinical implications

The left hemispheric dominance for complex motor behavior is undisputed. Clinical observations of complex motor deficits in patients with right hemispheric lesions, however, suggest an additional contribution of the right hemisphere to higher motor control. We assessed, using functional MRI (fMRI), which brain regions are implicated in processing the spatial aspects of complex, object-related actions. Using a blocked, factorial design, 17 healthy volunteers were asked to detect either spatial or sequential errors (factor ERROR) in complex activities of daily living, presented as video sequences with the appropriate object(s) or as pantomimes (factor STIMULUS). Observing complex actions (irrespective of stimulus type) activated a bilateral frontoparietal network. Observing actions with objects (relative to pantomimes) differentially increased neural activity in the fusiform gyrus and inferior occipital cortex bilaterally. Observing pantomimes, i.e., the same actions but without any object, differentially activated right prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, the precuneus, and left cerebellum. The left cingulate cortex was differentially activated when subjects assessed the sequencing of actions. By contrast, assessing the spatial configuration of complex actions differentially increased neural activity in right posterior parietal cortex. A significant interaction of ERROR and STIMULUS was revealed for the right inferior parietal cortex only. These findings suggest a specific role of the right hemisphere, especially of right posterior parietal cortex, in processing spatial aspects of complex actions and thus provide a physiological basis for the observed apraxic motor deficits in patients with right hemispheric damage.