An Integrative Framework for Sensory, Motor, and Cognitive Functions of the Posterior Parietal Cortex

Throughout the history of modern neuroscience, the parietal cortex has been associated with a wide array of sensory, motor, and cognitive functions. The use of non-human primates as a model organism has been instrumental in our current understanding of how areas in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) modulate our perception and influence our behavior. In this Perspective, we highlight a series of influential studies over the last five decades examining the role of the PPC in visual perception and motor planning. We also integrate long-standing views of PPC functions with more recent evidence to propose a more general model framework to explain integrative sensory, motor, and cognitive functions of the PPC. Freedman and Ibos review how past debates about the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) led to the development of recent theories. Based on this review and recent advances in the field, they propose a novel integrative comparative framework.