On the Section

The Section Neuropsychology focusses on the investigation of spatial cognition and object recognition in humans. The current issues of our work comprise the perception of body orientation, spatial attention and exploration, and visuomotor coordination in grasping and pointing movements. We investigate patients with brain lesions as well as healthy subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and eye- and hand movement recordings. These approaches aim to elucidate the integration processes of perceptual information from different modalities and their use in the control of action. To accomplish the initiation and execution of adequate motor behavior, e.g. during exploration of space or grasping an object, a continuous updating and alignment of incoming sensory information is required as this information is coded in different coordinate systems and changes fast in our environment. A better understanding of these processes not only allows us new insights into normal brain functions, but also enables us to develop new approaches for the treatment of patients with brain lesions and their functional disorders.

Our current research in more detail:
Visual and tactile exploration of space
Geometry of space perception
Rehabilitation of spatial neglect
Pointing and grasping
Coordination between head, eye and hand movements
Auditory localization in space
Pusher-Syndrome
Object perception
Simultanagnosia