<P> The precuneus is involved in memory tasks, such as when people look at images and try to respond based on what they have remembered in regard to verbal questions about their spatial details . It is involved with the left prefrontal cortex in the recall of episodic memories including past episodes related to the self . The precuneus is also involved in source memory (in which the "source" circumstances of a memory are recalled) with the left inferior prefrontal cortex: here its role is suggested to be providing rich episodic contextual associations used by the prefrontal cortex to select the correct past memory . In the recollection of memories, it has been suggested that the precuneus' decides' whether context information exists that can be useful for involving the aid of the hippocampus . Alternatively it has a different involvement when judging the familiarity as it decides whether the processing of perceptual features would be more useful . In this way the precuneus gets involved in diverse processes such as attention, episodic memory retrieval, working memory and conscious perception . </P> <P> The precuneus has been suggested to be involved in directing attention in space both when an individual makes movements and when imaging or preparing them . It is involved in motor imagery and shifting attention between motor targets . It is also involved in motor coordination that requires shifting attention to different spatial locations . It is also together with the dorsal premotor cortex involved in visuospatial mental operations (such as in a modified form of the game of Amidakuji). It is suggested that while the premotor area engages in the mental operation, the precuneus aids monitoring the success of that operation in terms of internally represented visual images . </P> <P> The precuneus' role in mental imagery has been suggested to extend to that of modeling other people's views . It is activated when a person takes a third - person versus first - person visual point of view . Together with the superior frontal gyrus and orbitofrontal cortex, the precuneus is activated when people make judgments that requires understanding whether to act out of empathy and forgiveness . </P> <P> It has been suggested that together with the posterior cingulate, the precuneus is "pivotal for conscious information processing". The evidence for this link with consciousness comes from the effects of its disruption in epilepsy, brain lesions and vegetative state . Also, cerebral glucose metabolism is at its highest in these two areas during wakefulness but is most reduced in them during anesthesia . In addition, it is one of the areas of the brain most deactivated during slow - wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep . </P>

The precuneus a review of its functional anatomy and behavioural correlates