The Japanese journal of neuropsychology

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ArticleTitle	Grasping manipulable objects in a case with bilateral parietal atrophy
Language	J
AuthorList	Mutsutaka Kobayakawa, Yoshitaka Ohigashi
Affiliation	Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University
Publication	Japanese Journal of Neuropsychology: 23 (3), 200-208, 2007
Received	Oct 11, 2006
Accepted	Dec 8, 2006
Abstract	We examined object use impairment in a patient with degenerative disease. While previous studies revealed that multiple factors are involved in the object use deficit, we especially focused on the spatial processing for movement planning when grasping an object. Our patient had bilateral parietal hypoperfusion. He exhibited apraxia and motor disturbances such as clumsiness and myoclonus, which was dominant in the left upper extremity. In pantomiming he exhibited spatial errors to both verbal commands and visually presented objects. In actual object use, he had difficulty in grasping objects in the proper manner. To investigate the nature of his grasping deficit, we presented him everyday objects one at a time. The object was placed in the orientation which was either compatible or incompatible for grasping. As a result, grasping performance was significantly worse in the incompatible condition. Distal (non-grasping) Movements were improved when he grasped the objects properly. Since lesion of this case was broadly distributed, several cognitive functions may be associated with the grasping difficulty. Results in our study indicated that spatiomotor processing could be involved in the object use impairment in this patient, and that the difficulty in grasping objects could prevent the appropriate object use.
Keywords	grasping, object use, parietal lobe, visuospatial information