Towards an analytic framework for the visuospatial domain: Spatial reference frames, cognitive operations, and neural systems

This article addresses the confusion in neuropsychological literature on visuospatial function and then proposes an analytic framework towards resolution in the visuospatial domain. Three bodies of literature on visuospatial processing are summarized, and from each is derived an analytic dimension for visuospatial investigation. They are: (1) the frame of space (e.g., egocentric), (2) the definition of spatial operations in cognitive terms, and (3) spatial processing in terms of neural hierarchy and respective neural centers. It is proposed that these dimensions can constitute a working model to clarify the complexity of visuospatial function.