Contributions of Functional Neuroimaging to Clinical and Cognitive Neuropsychology: A Selective Review

Functional neuroimaging has provided a new view of the activity in the human cortex. The understanding of the relationship between functional signals, particularly functional MRI, clinical disorders and cognitive functions has increased. This article reviews selected contributions of positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with a focus on their interest to better understand visual cognition, hemispheric specialization, and cerebral plasticity. Future directions of functional neuroimaging research are proposed, with the emphasis that the most complete conclusions are drawn by convergence of research from functional neuroimaging, neurophysiological, and lesion studies. We also briefly mention the emerging role of TMS, as a tool to simulate, study and understand the dynamic course of deficits observed after a cortical lesion in 'virtual neuropsychology'.