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Visual-Spatial Ability

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology

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Synonyms

Spatial processing; Visuospatial ability

Definition

Visuospatial ability is a component of visual perception that enables processing of the visual orientation or location of objects in space. The visuospatial or “where” system is functionally and neuroanatomically distinct from the visuoperceptual “what” system. Visuospatial information is processed by a “dorsal stream” occipito-parietal pathway, while a “ventral stream” occipito-temporal processes visuoperceptual information (Ungerleider and Mishkin 1982). Specifically, the visuospatial system gets input from “type M” retinal ganglion cells which project to the ventral layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus followed by superior occipital and parietal projections. Impairments in visuospatial abilities can result in deficits in visuospatial judgment, visual neglect, topographic disorientation, and Balint’s syndrome (Capruso et al. 2006).

Historical Background

Dr. Arthur Benton credits an early case report by Dr. Badal in 1888...

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References and Readings

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, West Chester, PA, USA

    Farzin Irani

  2. Immaculata University, Immaculata, PA, USA

    Celita J. Owens

Authors
  1. Farzin Irani
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  2. Celita J. Owens
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Farzin Irani .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Jeffrey S. Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation, Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Independent Practice, Wynnewood, PA, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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Irani, F., Owens, C.J. (2018). Visual-Spatial Ability. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1418

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