Hi again TIPsters:
Someone just turned me on to the following recent article (below,
abstract taken from PsycINFO) that makes for an interesting read on the
topic of "upward conjugate eye movements" and cognitive tasks, including
recall from memory. There is apparently a bit of a literature, dating
back to some pubs from the 1970s. I suggest you get a copy of this
article if you're interested enough, and NO, it isn't necessarily
logically connected to the R/L eye movements and hemispheric
lateralization claims that you often see.
Thanks for your suggestions.
MD
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Title:
Why your 'head is in the clouds' during thinking: The relationship
between cognition and upper space.
Author(s):
Previc, Fred H., Northrop Grumman Information Technology, San
Antonio, TX, US, fred.pre...@ngc.com
Declerck, Carolyn, Department of Applied Economics, University of
Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
de Brabander, Bert, Department of Applied Economics, University of
Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
Source:
Acta Psychologica, Vol 118(1-2), Jan-Feb 2005. Special issue: Space:
>From Perception to Action. pp. 7-24.
Abstract:
Higher-order cognition in humans has not generally been viewed as
closely entwined with the brain mechanisms mediating more basic
perceptual-motor interactions in 3-D space. However, recent findings
suggest that perceptual and oculomotor mechanisms that are biased toward
the upper field (which disproportionately represents radially distant
space) are activated during complex mental operations, ranging from
semantic processing to mental arithmetic and memory search. The
particularly close affinity with upward conjugate eye
deviations--further confirmed in a study of 24 schoolchildren who
responded to various mental questions and demands--suggests that active,
abstract thinking in humans may have expropriated the
focal-extrapersonal brain systems involved in saccadic exploration of
the distant environment in other primates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c)
2008 APA, all rights reserved)(from the journal abstract)
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