Superior parietal cortices and varieties of mental rotation

Mental rotation is the most distinctly specialized operation of the imagination, one characterized precisely enough psychophysically for parametric study, thereby making it an optimal prospect for isolating and modeling its neural mechanisms. New human brain mapping studies using direct cortical stimulation and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation isolate an area in right superior parietal cortex that appears to be crucial for the mental rotation of objects, but not to the mental rotation of one's body.