Prefrontal cortex hemispheric specialization for categorical and coordinate visual spatial memory

During visual spatial perception of multiple items, the left hemisphere has been shown to preferentially process categorical spatial relationships while the right hemisphere has been shown to preferentially process coordinate spatial relationships. We hypothesized that this hemispheric processing distinction would be reflected in the prefrontal cortex during categorical and coordinate visual spatial memory, and tested this hypothesis using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). During encoding, abstract shapes were presented in the left or right hemifield in addition to a dot at a variable distance from the shape (with some dots on the shape); participants were instructed to remember the position of each dot relative to the shape. During categorical memory retrieval, each shape was presented centrally and participants responded whether the previously corresponding dot was ‘on’ or ‘off’ of the shape. During coordinate memory retrieval, each shape was presented centrally and participants responded whether the previously corresponding dot was ‘near’ or ‘far’ from the shape (relative to a reference distance). Consistent with our hypothesis, a region in the left prefrontal cortex (BA10) was preferentially associated with categorical visual spatial memory and a region in the right prefrontal cortex (BA9/10) was preferentially associated with coordinate visual spatial memory. These results have direct implications for interpreting previous findings that the left prefrontal cortex is associated with source memory, as this cognitive process is categorical in nature, and the right prefrontal cortex is associated with item memory, as this process depends on the precise spatial relations among item features or components.