The parietal lobe and tool use. 2018

Angelo Maravita, and Daniele Romano
Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: angelo.maravita@unimib.it.

The ability to craft and use tools is a crucial skill of human beings, distinguishing humans from all other species. Humans show a unique capacity to create novel, technologically advanced devices and represent physical causality using tools. In the present chapter we review the effect of tool use in changing body-space multisensory integration and body representation and the fundamental contribution of the parietal lobe to the neural underpinnings of tool use. In the final section we briefly introduce the effect of parietal brain damage on tool use. At the beginning of 20th century, a crucial role for the left parietal lobe for a proper control of gestures, including the pantomimed and actual use of tools, was already clear. Actual available evidence supports a critical role of the parietal lobe for both the lower-level multisensory integration of somatosensory and visual input necessary for the interactions between body, tools, and external objects, and for the representation of the mechanical and conceptual dynamics of tool use. Parietal regions, rather than merely representing the prototypical use of a tool, would be critical to understand the general mechanical interactions of the tool with the environment. The increase of knowledge about such brain mechanisms is of utmost relevance in the present times, characterized by the development of more and more sophisticated technological tools, such as functional prostheses, robotic interfaces, and virtual-reality devices.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D010296 Parietal Lobe Upper central part of the cerebral hemisphere. It is located posterior to central sulcus, anterior to the OCCIPITAL LOBE, and superior to the TEMPORAL LOBES. Brodmann Area 39,Brodmann Area 40,Brodmann Area 5,Brodmann Area 7,Brodmann's Area 39,Brodmann's Area 40,Brodmann's Area 5,Brodmann's Area 7,Inferior Parietal Cortex,Secondary Sensorimotor Cortex,Superior Parietal Lobule,Angular Gyrus,Gyrus Angularis,Gyrus Supramarginalis,Intraparietal Sulcus,Marginal Sulcus,Parietal Cortex,Parietal Lobule,Parietal Region,Posterior Paracentral Lobule,Posterior Parietal Cortex,Praecuneus,Precuneus,Precuneus Cortex,Prelunate Gyrus,Supramarginal Gyrus,Area 39, Brodmann,Area 39, Brodmann's,Area 40, Brodmann,Area 40, Brodmann's,Area 5, Brodmann,Area 5, Brodmann's,Area 7, Brodmann,Area 7, Brodmann's,Brodmanns Area 39,Brodmanns Area 40,Brodmanns Area 5,Brodmanns Area 7,Cortex, Inferior Parietal,Cortex, Parietal,Cortex, Posterior Parietal,Cortex, Precuneus,Cortex, Secondary Sensorimotor,Cortices, Inferior Parietal,Gyrus, Angular,Gyrus, Prelunate,Gyrus, Supramarginal,Inferior Parietal Cortices,Lobe, Parietal,Lobule, Parietal,Lobule, Posterior Paracentral,Lobule, Superior Parietal,Paracentral Lobule, Posterior,Paracentral Lobules, Posterior,Parietal Cortex, Inferior,Parietal Cortex, Posterior,Parietal Cortices,Parietal Cortices, Inferior,Parietal Cortices, Posterior,Parietal Lobes,Parietal Lobule, Superior,Parietal Lobules,Parietal Lobules, Superior,Parietal Regions,Posterior Paracentral Lobules,Posterior Parietal Cortices,Precuneus Cortices,Region, Parietal,Secondary Sensorimotor Cortices,Sensorimotor Cortex, Secondary,Superior Parietal Lobules
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D053001 Tool Use Behavior Modifying, carrying, or manipulating an item external to itself by an animal, before using it to effect a change on the environment or itself (from Beck, Animal Tool Behavior, 1980). Behavior, Tool Use,Behaviors, Tool Use,Tool Use Behaviors

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